Opening…

Chapter 1

General aspect—Boundaries and divisions of the desert—Probable etymology of the Greek oasis—Absorption of the Ghaggar river—The Luni, or salt-river—The Rann, or Ran—Distinction of thal and rui—Thal of the Luni—Jalor—Siwanchi—Machola and Morsin—Bhinmal and Sanchor—Bhadrajun—Mewa—Balotra and Tilwara—Indhavati—Gugadeo-ka-thal—Thal of Tararoi—Thal of Khawar—Mallinath-ka-thal, or Barmer—Kherdhar—Juna Chhotan—Nagar Gura 1257

Chapter 2

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

Chapter I

Designations given by Europeans to the principalities of Rajputana—Dhundhar known by the name of its capitals, Amber or Jaipur—The country of the Kachhwahas an aggregate of conquests by the race so called—Etymology of Dhundhar—Origin of the Kachhwahas—Raja Nal founds Narwar—Dhola Rae expelled, and founds Dhundhar—Romantic legend of Dhola Rae—His treachery to his benefactor, the Mina lord of Khoganw—Marries a daughter of a Bargujar chief, and becomes his heir—Augments his territories, and transfers his government to Ramgarh—Marries a daughter of the prince of Ajmer—Is killed in battle with the Minas—His son Kankhal conquers Dhundhar—Medal Rae conquers Amber, and other places—Conquests of Hundeo—Of Kuntal—Accession of Pajun—Reflections on the aboriginal tribes at this period—The Mina race—Pajun marries the sister of Prithiraj of Delhi—His military prowess—Is killed at the rape of the princess of Kanauj—Malesi succeeds—His successors—Prithiraj creates the Barah-kothris, or twelve great fiefs of Amber—He is assassinated—Baharmall—The first to wait on the Muhammadan power—Bhagwandas the first Rajput to give a daughter to the imperial house—His daughter marries Jahangir, and gives birth to Khusru—Accession to Man Singh—His power, intrigues, and death—Rao Bhao—Maha—Mirza Raja Jai Singh, brother of Raja Man, succeeds—Repairs the disgraces of his two predecessors, and renders immense services to the empire—Is poisoned by his son—Ram Singh—Bishan Singh 1327

Chapter 2

Sawai Jai Singh succeeds—Joins the party of Azam Shah—Amber sequestrated—Jai Singh expels the imperial garrison—His character—His astronomical knowledge—His conduct during the troubles of the empire—Anecdote illustrative of the evils of polygamy—Limits of the raj of Amber at the accession of Jai Singh—The new city of Jaipur—Conquest of Rajor and Deoti—Incidents illustrative of Rajput character—Jai Singh’s habit of inebriation—The virtues of his character—Contemplates the rite of Aswamedha—Dispersion of his valuable manuscripts—His death—Some of his wives and concubines become Satis on his pyre 1341

Chapter 3

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

Chapter 4

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

SHAIKHAWAT FEDERATION

Chapter 5

Origin of the Shaikhavati federation—Its constitution—Descent of the chiefs from Balaji of Amber—Mokalji—Miraculous birth of his son—Shaikhji—Aggrandizes his territory—Raemall—Suja—Raesal—His heroism—Obtains grants from Akbar—Gets possession of Khandela and Udaipur—His exploits and character—Girdharji—Is cut off by assassination—Dwarkadas—His extraordinary feat with a lion—Falls by Khan Jahan Lodi—Birsinghdeo—His authority usurped by his son—Bahadur Singh—Aurangzeb directs the demolition of the temple of Khandela—Bahadur deserts his capital—Shujawan Singh Raesalot flies to its defence—He is slain, the temple razed, and the city garrisoned—Kesari—Partition of the territory between Kesari and Fateh Singh—Fateh Singh assassinated—Kesari resists the regal authority—Is deserted in the field and slain—His son Udai Singh taken to Ajmer—Khandela retaken, and restored to Udai Singh, who is liberated—He resolves to punish the Manoharpur chief—Is baffled by that chief’s intrigues—Is besieged by Jai Singh of Amber—Khandela becomes tributary to Amber 1378

Chapter 6

Bindrabandas adheres to Madho Singh in the civil wars of Amber—Partition of lands annulled—Self-immolation of the Brahmans—Consequences to Bindraban, in his contest with Indar Singh, the other chief of Khandela—Civil war—Prodigal expiatory sacrifice of Bindraban—He abdicates—Govind Singh—Is assassinated—Narsinghdas—Rise and devastations of the Mahrattas—Siege of Khandela—Terms of redemption—Murder of deputies by the Mahrattas—Indar Singh perishes in the attempt to avenge them—Partap Singh—Rise of the Sikar chief—Transactions between Partap and Narsingh, his co-partner—Partap obtains the whole of Khandela—Narsingh recovers by stratagem his share of Khandela—Domestic broils and feuds—General assembly of the Sadhani and Raesalot chiefs, to counteract the encroachments of Amber—Treaty between the Shaikhawats and the court of Amber—Violated by the latter—The confederacy assault the town of the Haldia faction—Narsingh refuses tribute to the court, and Khandela is sequestrated—Narsingh and Partap treacherously made captive, and conveyed to Jaipur—Khandela annexed to the fisc 1395

Chapter 7

Bagh Singh opposes the faithless court of Amber—He is joined by the celebrated George Thomas—Desperate action—Bagh Singh placed in the fortified palace at Khandela—His garrison, with his brother, slain by Hanwant Singh, son of Partap—Bagh regains the palace—The lands of Khandela farmed by Amber to two Brahmans—They are expelled by the feudatory Barwatias, who resist the court—They become a banditti—Sangram Singh, cousin to Partap, their leader—He avoids the treachery of the court—His death—The confederacy unite in the league against Jodhpur—New treaty with the Amber court—Liberation of Partap and Narsingh—Grand union of the Shaikhawats—Abhai Singh succeeds in Khandela—Treachery of the court—Hanwant regains Govindgarh, Khandela, etc.—Restoration of Khushhaliram to the ministry of Jaipur—New investitures granted to the feudatories of Khandela—Abhai and Partap inducted into their ancestral abodes—Incident illustrative of the defects of the Rajput feudal system—Khandela assailed by Lachhman Singh, chief of Sikar—Gallant defence of Hanwant—His death—Surrender of Khandela to Lachhman Singh—The co-heirs exiled—Power and influence of Lachhman Singh—Foils the designs of the Purohit—Present attitude of Lachhman Singh—Subordinate branches of the Shaikhawats—The Sadhanis—Their territories wrested from the Kaimkhanis and Rajputs—The Khetri branch of the family of Sadhu attains superiority—Bagh Singh of Khetri murders his own son—The Larkhanis—Revenues of Shaikhavati 1408

Chapter 8

Reflections—Statistics of Amber—Boundaries—Extent—Population—Number of townships—Classification of inhabitants—Soil—Husbandry—Products—Revenues—Foreign army—The feudal levies 1428

X. ANNALS OF HARAVATI

BUNDI

Chapter 1

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

Chapter 2

Recapitulation of the Hara princes from the founder Anuraj to Rae Dewa—He erects Bundi—Massacre of the Usaras—Dewa abdicates—Ceremony of Yugaraj, or abdication—Succeeded by Samarsi—Extends his sway east of the Chambal—Massacre of the Kotia Bhils—Origin of Kotah—Napuji succeeds—Feud with the Solanki of Toda—Assassination of Napuji—Singular Sati—Hamu succeeds—The Rana asserts his right over the Patar—Hamu demurs, defies, and attacks him—Anecdote—Birsingh—Biru—Rao Banda—Famine—Anecdote—Banda expelled by his brothers; converts to Muhammadanism—Narayandas puts his uncles to death, and recovers his patrimony—Anecdotes of Narayandas—Aids the Rana of Chitor—Gains a victory—Espouses the niece of Rana Raemall—His passion for opium—Death—Rao Surajmall—Marries a princess of Chitor—Fatal result—Aheria or Spring-hunt—Assassination of the Rao—His revenge—Two-fold sati—Rao Surthan—His cruelty, deposal, and banishment—Rao Arjun elected—Romantic death—Rao Surjan succeeds 1466

Chapter 3

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

Chapter 4

Rao Ummeda defeats the troops of Amber—Conflict at Dablana—Ummeda defeated and obliged to fly—Death of Hanja, his steed—Takes refuge amidst the ravines of the Chambal—Redeems his capital—Is again expelled from it—Interview with the widow of his father; she solicits aid from Holkar to reinstate Ummeda—The Amber prince forced to acknowledge the claims of Ummeda—He recovers Bundi—Suicide of the Amber prince—First alienation of land to the Mahrattas—Madho Singh of Amber asserts supremacy over Haraoti—Origin of tributary demands thereon—Zalim Singh—Mahratta encroachments—Ummeda’s revenge on the chief of Indargarh; its cause and consequences—Ummeda abdicates—Ceremony of Yugaraj, or abdication—Installation of Ajit—Ummeda becomes a pilgrim; his wanderings; cause of their interruption—Ajit assassinates the Rana of Mewar—Memorable Sati imprecation—Awful death of Ajit—Fulfilment of ancient prophecy—Rao Bishan Singh succeeds—Ummeda’s distrust of his grandson; their reconciliation—Ummeda’s death—British army retreats through Haraoti, aided by Bundi—Alliance with the English—Benefits conferred on Bundi—Bishan Singh dies of the cholera morbus; forbids the rite of Sati—His character; constitutes the Author guardian of his son, the Rao Raja Ram Singh 1499

KOTAH

Chapter 5

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

Chapter 6

Maharao Guman Singh—Zalim Singh—His birth, ancestry, and progress to power—Office of Faujdar becomes hereditary in his family—His office and estate resumed by Guman Singh—He abandons Kotah—Proceeds to Mewar—Performs services to the Rana, and receives the title of Raj Rana, and estates—Serves against the Mahrattas—Is wounded and made prisoner—Returns to Kotah—Mahratta invasion—Storm of Bakhani—Its glorious defence—Sacrifice of a clan—Garrison of Sohet destroyed—Zalim Singh employed—His successful negotiation—Restoration to power—Rao Guman constitutes Zalim guardian of his son Ummed Singh, who is proclaimed—The Tika-daur, or ‘raid of accession’—Capture of Kelwara—Difficulties of the Protector’s situation—Cabal against his power—Destruction of the conspirators—Exile of the nobles—Sequestration of estates—Conspiracy of Aton—Predatory bands—Aton surrenders—Exile of the Hara nobles—Curtailment of the feudal interests—Conspiracy of Mohsen—Plan for the destruction of the Regent and family—Mohsen chief takes sanctuary in the temple—Is dragged forth and slain—Maharao’s brothers implicated in the plot—Their incarceration and death—Numerous projects against the life of the regent—Female conspiracy—How defeated—The Regent’s precautions 1534

Chapter 7

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

Chapter 8

Farming system of Zalim Singh—Extent to which it has been carried—Its prosperity, fallacious and transitory—Details of the system—Soil of Kotah—The Regent introduces foreign ploughs—Area cultivated—Net produce—Value—Grain-pits—Prices, in plenty and famine—Zalim sells in one year grain to the amount of a million sterling—Monopoly—The tithe, or new tax on exported grain—The Jagatya, or tax-gatherer—Impolicy of this tax—Gross revenue of Kotah—Opium monopoly—Tax on widows—On the mendicant—Gourd-tax—Broom-tax—The Regent detested by the bards—Province of Kotah at this period, and at assumption of the government, contrasted—Question as to the moral result of his improvements 1559

Chapter 9

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

Chapter 10

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

Chapter 11

Banishment of Gordhandas, the natural son of the Regent—His reappearance in Malwa—Consequent renewal of dissensions at Kotah—The troops mutiny and join the Maharao—The Regent assaults the castle—Flight of the Maharao and party—Reception at Bundi—The Maharao’s second brother joins the Regent—Gordhandas’ attempt to join the Maharao frustrated—The Maharao leaves Bundi—General sympathy for him—He arrives at Brindaban—Intrigues of Gordhandas and superior native officers of the British Government, who deceive the Maharao—Returns to Kotah at the head of a force—Summons the Haras to his standard—His demands—Supplemental article of the treaty considered—Embarrassing conduct of the Regent—The Maharao refuses all mediation—His ultimatum—British troops march—Junction with the Regent—Attack the Maharao—His defeat and flight—Death of his brother Pirthi Singh—Singular combat—Amnesty proclaimed—The Hara chiefs return to their families—The Maharao retires to the temple of Krishna in Mewar—Negotiation for his return—Satisfactory termination—Reflections on these civil wars—Character and death of Zalim Singh 1595

Chapter 1

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

Chapter 2

The chief of Hinta—Difficulty of arranging the separation of Hinta from the fisc—Anomalous character of its present chief, Man Singh Saktawat—His history—Lalji Rawat of Nethara—Origin of the Dudia family—Adventure of Sangram Singh, the Rana of Mewar—His son, Chandrabhan, and Rana Raj—Extraordinary manner in which he acquired Lawa—Decline of the family—Form of deed of conveyance of lands from the lord paramount—Address of Man Singh—Atrocious murder of a Rathor boy—Its singular sequel 1635

Chapter 3

Morwan—The solitude of this fine district—Caused by the Mahrattas and their mercenaries—Impolicy of our conduct towards the Mahrattas—Antiquities of Morwan—Tradition of the foundation and destruction of the ancient city—Inscriptions—Jain temple—Game—Attack by a tiger—Sudden change of the weather—Destructive frost—Legend of a temple of Mama-devi—Important inscription—Distress of the peasantry—Gratitude of the people to the author—Nikumbh—Oppression of the peasants—Marla—Inhabited by Charans—Reception of the Author—Curious privilege of the Charanis—Its origin—Traditional account of the settlement of this colony in Mewar—Imprecation of Satis—The tandas, or caravans—Their immunity from plunder and extortion—Nimbahera—Ranikhera—Indignity committed by a scavenger of Laisrawan—Sentence upon the culprit—Tablet to a Silpi—Reception at Nimbahera 1646

Chapter 4

The Patar or Table-land of Central India—View from thence—Project of a canal—Its advantages to Mewar—Utility of further works to the people—Traces of superstition in the Pathar—Temple of Sukhdeo—The Daitya-ka-har, or 'Giant’s bone'—The Vira-jhamp, or ‘Warrior’s Leap’—Proprietorship of the Patar—Its products—The poppy—Pernicious effects of its increased cultivation—Account of the introduction and mode of culture of opium—Original spot of its cultivation—The manufacture of opium kept pace with the depopulation of Mewar—Process of cultivation, and of manufacture—Its fluctuation of price—Adulterated opium of Kanthal—Evil consequences of the use of opium—Duty of the paramount power to restrict the culture—Practicability of such a measure—Distribution of crops—Impolicy of our Government in respect to the opium monopoly 1660

Chapter 5

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

Chapter 6

Bhainsrorgarh—Cairn of a Rajput—Raghunath Singh of Bhainsror—Castle of Bhainsror—Passage forced by the Chambal through the Plateau—Origin and etymology of Bhainsror—Charans, the carriers of Rajwara—The young chief of Mewa becomes the champion of Mewar—Avenges the Rana’s feud with Jaisalmer, and obtains Bhainsror—Tragical death of his Thakurani, niece of the Rana—He is banished—The Pramar chiefs of Bhainsror—Cause of their expulsion—Lal Singh Chondawat obtains Bhainsror—Assassinates his friend the Rana’s uncle—Man Singh, his son, succeeds—Is taken prisoner—Singular escape—Reflections on the policy of the British Government towards these people—Antiquities and inscriptions at Bhainsror—Dabhi—View from the pass at Nasera—Rajput cairns—Tomb of a bard—Sentiments of the people on the effects of our interference—Their gratitude—Cairn of a Bhatti chief—Karipur—Depopulated state of the country—Inscriptions at Sontra—Bhil temple—Ruins—The Holi festival—Kotah, its appearance 1687

Chapter 7

Unhealthiness of the season at Kotah—Eventful character of the period of the Author’s residence there—The cuckoo—Description of the encampment—Cenotaphs of the Haras—Severe tax upon the curiosity of travellers in Kotah—General insalubrity of Kotah—Wells infected—Productive of fever—Taking leave of the Maharao and Regent—The Regent’s sorrow—Cross the Chambal—Restive elephant—Kanari—Regent’s patrimonial estate—Nanta—Author’s reception by Madho Singh—Rajput music—The Panjabi tappa—Scene of the early recreations of Zalim Singh—Talera—Nawagaon—Approach of the Raja of Bundi—Splendour of the cortège—Bundi—The castellated palace, or Bundi ka mahall—Visit to the Raja—Illness of our party—Quit Bundi—Cenotaphs in the village of Satur—The tutelary deity, Asapurna—Temple of Bhavani—Banks of the Mej—Thana—Inscriptions—Jahazpur—Respectable suite of the Basai chief 1704

Chapter 8

Extraordinary attack of illness in the Author—Suspicion of poison—Journey to Mandalgarh—The Karar—Tranquil state of the country—The Minas subsiding into peaceful subjects—Scenery in the route—Sasan, or ecclesiastical lands—Castle of Amargarh—Kachaura—Its ancient importance—Our true policy with regard to the feudatories in these parts—Damnia—Manpura—Signs of reviving prosperity—Arrival at Mandalgarh—The Dasahra—Sickness of the party left behind—Assembly of the Bhumias and Patels—Description of Mandalgarh—Rebuilt by one of the Takshak race—Legend of Mandalgarh—Genealogical tablet of stone—Pedigrees of the tribes—Mandalgarh granted to the Rathors by Aurangzeb—Recovered by the Rana—Taxes imposed—Lavish grants—Baghit—The Author rejoins his party—Birslabas—Akola—Desolation of the country—Inscriptions—Hamirgarh—Siyana—Superb landscape—Mirage—Testimony of gratitude from the elders of Pur—Thriving state of Marauli—Rasmi—Antiquities—Curious law—Jasma—Waste country—Inscriptions—Copper mines—Sanwar—Tribeni, or point of junction of three rivers—Temple of Parsvanath—Deserted state of the country—Karera—Maoli—Barren country—Hunting seat of Nahra-Magra—Heights of Tus and Merta—End of second journey 1716

Chapter 9

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

Chapter 10

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

Chapter 11

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

Chapter 12

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

Chapter 13

Route over the ground of Monson’s retreat—Battle of Pipli—Heroism of Amar Singh Hara, chief of Koila—Conduct of General Monson—Pachpahar—Kanwara—Thriving aspect of the country—Jhalrapatan—Temples—Commercial immunities of the city—Judicious measures of the Regent in establishing this mart—Public visit of the community of Patan—The ancient city—Legends of its foundation—Profusion of ancient ruins—Fine sculpture and architecture of the temples—Inscriptions—Cross the natural boundary of Haraoti and Malwa—The Chhaoni of the Kotah Regent—Chhaoni of the Pindaris—Gagraun—Narayanpur—Mukunddarra Pass—Inscriptions—Anecdotes of the 'Lords of the Pass'—The Chaori of Bhim—Ruins—Ordinances of the Hara princes—Return to Kotah—Field sports—Author attacked by a bear—Ruins of Ekelgarh 1777

Chapter 14

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

Chapter 15

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

APPENDIX 1828

INDEX 1837

ILLUSTRATIONS

Colonel Tod and his Jain Guru Frontispiece

TO FACE PAGE

Raghubīr Singh, Māhārāo Rāja of Būndi 1441

City of Kotah from the East 1521

Country Seat of the Kotah Prince 1530

Palace and Fortress of Būndi 1710

Fragment from the Ruins of Barolli 1752

Outline of a Temple to Mahadeva at Barolli 1754

Sculptured Niche on the Exterior of the Temple at 1756 Barolli

Ceiling of the Portico of Temple at Barolli 1758

Remains of an Ancient Temple at Barolli, near the 1760 Chambal

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

Smaller Group of Temples of Ganga Bheva 1768

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

Cave Temples of Dhamnar 1776

Entrance to the Sanctuary of a Temple at Chandravati 1784

Sculptured Foliage in Chandravati Temple 1786

Sculptured Ceilings of Temple at Chandravati 1788

Columns of Chandravati Temples 1790

Entrance to the Sanctuary of a Temple at Chandravati 1792

Ruins of Bhīm’s Chaori in the Mukunddara Pass 1794

Ancient Columns in the Mukunddara Pass 1796

Temples of Menāl in Mewār 1800

Second Group of Temples of Menāl in Mewār 1802

Jaistambha, Pillar of Victory 1820

Columns in the Fortress of Chitor 1822

ANNALS AND ANTIQUITIES OF RAJASTHAN

Chapter 1

Having never penetrated personally farther into the heart of the desert than Mandor, the ancient capital of all Marusthali, the old castle of Hissar on its north-eastern frontier, and Abu, Nahrwala, and Bhuj, to the south, it may be necessary, before entering upon the details, to deprecate the charge of presumption or incompetency, by requesting the reader to bear in mind that my parties of discovery have traversed it in every direction, adding to their journals of routes living testimonies of their accuracy, and bringing to me natives of every thal from Bhatner to Umarkot, and from Abu to Aror.[8.1.1] I wish it, however, to be clearly understood, that I look upon this as a mere outline, which, by showing what might be done, may stimulate further research; but in the existing dearth of information on the subject I have not hesitated to send it forth, with its almost inevitable errors, as (I trust) a pioneer to more extended and accurate knowledge.

After premising thus much, let us commence with details, which, but for the reasons already stated, should have been comprised in the geographical portion of the work, and which, though irrelevant to the historical part, are too important to be [290] thrown into notes. I may add, that the conclusions formed, partly from personal observation, but chiefly from the resources described above, have been confirmed by the picture drawn by Mr. Elphinstone of his passage through the northern desert in the embassy to Kabul, which renders perfectly satisfactory to me the views I before entertained. It may be well, at this stage, to mention that some slight repetitions must occur as we proceed, having incidentally noticed many of the characteristic features of the desert in the Annals of Bikaner, which was unavoidable from the position of that State.

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

=Boundaries of the Desert.=—Marusthali is bounded on the north by the flat skirting the Ghara; on the south by that grand salt-marsh, the Ran, and Koliwara; on the east by the Aravalli; and on the west by the valley of Sind. The two last boundaries are the most conspicuous, especially the Aravalli, but for which impediment Central India would be submerged in sand; nay, lofty and continuous as is this chain, extending almost from the sea to Delhi, wherever there are passages or depressions, these floating sand-clouds are wafted through or over, and form a little thal even in the bosom of fertility. Whoever has crossed the Banas near Tonk, where the sand for some miles resembles waves of the sea, will comprehend this remark. Its western boundary is alike defined, and will recall to the English traveller, who may be destined to journey up the valley of Sind, the words of Napoleon on the Libyan desert: “Nothing so much resembles the sea as the desert; or a coast, as the valley of the Nile”: for this substitute ‘Indus’ [291], whence in journeying northward along its banks from Haidarabad to Uchh, the range of vision will be bounded to the east by a bulwark of sand, which, rising often to the height of two hundred feet above the level of the river, leads one to imagine that the chasm, now forming this rich valley, must have originated in a sudden melting of all the glaciers of Caucasus, whose congregated waters made this break in the continuity of Marusthali, which would otherwise be united with the deserts of Arachosia.

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

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

The whole of Bikaner, and that part of Shaikhavati north of the Aravalli, are comprehended in the desert. If the reader will refer to the map, and look for the town of Kanod,[8.1.2] within the British frontier, he will see what Mr. Elphinstone considered as the commencement of the desert, in his interesting expedition to Kabul.[8.1.3] “From Delly to Canound (the Kanorh of my map), a distance of one hundred miles is through the British dominions, and need not be described. It is sufficient to say that the country is sandy, though not ill cultivated. On approaching Canound, we had the first specimen of the desert, to which we were looking forward with anxious curiosity. Three miles before reaching that place we came to sand-hills, which at first were [292] covered with bushes, but afterwards were naked piles of loose sand, rising one after another like the waves of the sea, and marked on the surface by the wind like drifted snow. There were roads through them, made solid by the treading of animals; but off the road our horses sunk into the sand above the knee.” Such was the opening scene; the route of the embassy was by Singhana, Jhunjhunu, to Chum, when they entered Bikaner. Of Shaikhavati, which he had just left, Mr. Elphinstone says: “It seems to lose its title to be included in the desert, when compared with the two hundred and eighty miles between its western frontier and Bahawulpoor, and, even of this, only the last hundred miles is absolutely destitute of inhabitants, water, or vegetation. Our journey from Shekhavati to Poogul was over hills and valleys of loose and heavy sand. The hills were exactly like those which are sometimes formed by the wind on the seashore, but far exceeding them in height, which was from twenty to a hundred feet. They are said to shift their position and alter their shapes according as they are affected by the wind; and in summer the passage is rendered dangerous by the clouds of moving sand; but when I saw the hills (in winter), they seemed to have a great degree of permanence, for they bore grass, besides phoke, the babool, and bair or jujube, which altogether give them an appearance that sometimes amounted to verdure. Amongst the most dismal hills of sand one occasionally meets with a village, if such a name can be given to a few round huts of straw, with low walls and conical roofs, like little stacks of corn.” This description of the northern portion of the desert, by an author whose great characteristics are accuracy and simplicity, will enable the reader to form a more correct notion of what follows.[8.1.4]

With these remarks, and bearing in mind what has already been said of the physiography of these regions, we proceed to particularize the various thals and oases in this ‘region of death.’ It will be convenient to disregard the ancient Hindu geographical division, which makes Mandor the capital of Marusthali, a distinction both from its character and position better suited to Jaisalmer, being nearly in the centre of what may be termed entire desert. It is in fact an oasis, everywhere insulated by immense masses of thal, some of which are forty miles in breadth, without the trace of man, or aught that could subsist him. From Jaisalmer we shall pass to Marwar, and without crossing the Luni, describe Jalor and Siwanchi; then conduct the [293] reader into the almost unknown Raj of Parkar and Virawah,[8.1.5] governed by princes of the Chauhan race, with the title of Rana. Thence, skirting the political limits of modern Rajputana, to the regions of Dhat and Umra-sumra, now within the dominion of Sind, we shall conclude with a very slight sketch of Daudputra, and the valley of the Indus. These details will receive further illustration from the remarks made on every town or hamlet diverging from the ‘hill of Jaisal’ (Jaisalmer). Could the beholder, looking westward from this ‘triple-peaked hill,’[8.1.6] across this sandy ocean to the blue waters (Nilab)[8.1.7] of the Indus, embrace in his vision its whole course from Haidarabad to Uchh, he would perceive, amidst these valleys of sand-hills, little colonies of animated beings, congregated on every spot which water renders habitable. Throughout this tract, from four hundred to five hundred miles in longitudinal extent, and from one hundred to two hundred of diagonal breadth, are little hamlets, consisting of the scattered huts of the shepherds of the desert, occupied in pasturing their flocks or cultivating these little oases for food. He may discern a long line of camels (called kitar, a name better known than either kafila or karwan), anxiously toiling through the often doubtful path, and the Charan conductor, at each stage, tying a knot on the end of his turban. He may discover, lying in ambush, a band of Sahariyas, the Bedouins of our desert (sahra),[8.1.8] either mounted on camels or horses, on the watch to despoil the caravan, or engaged in the less hazardous occupation of driving off the flocks of the Rajar or Mangalia shepherds, peacefully tending them about the tars or bawas, or hunting for the produce stored amidst the huts of the ever-green jhal,[8.1.9] which serve at once as grain-pits and shelter from the sun. A migratory band may be seen flitting with their flocks from ground which they have exhausted, in search of fresh pastures:

And if the following day they chance to find A new repast, or an untasted spring, Will bless their stars, and think it luxury!

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

=Oasis.=—We may here pause to consider whether in the bah, bawa, or wah, of the Indian desert, may not be found the oasis of the Greeks, corrupted by them from el-wah, or, as written by Belzoni (in his account of the Libyan desert, while searching for the [294] temple of Ammon), Elloah. Of the numerous terms used to designate water in these arid regions, as par, rar, tar, dah or daha, bah, bawa, wah, all but the latter are chiefly applicable to springs or pools of water, while the last (wah), though used often in a like sense, applies more to a water-course or stream. El-wah, under whatever term, means—‘the water.’ Again, daha or dah is a term in general use for a pool, even not unfrequently in running streams and large rivers, which, ceasing to flow in dry weather, leave large stagnant masses, always called dah. There are many of the streams of Rajputana, having such pools, particularized as hathi-dah, or ‘elephant-pool,’ denoting a sufficiency of water even to drown that animal. Now the word dah or daha, added to the generic term for water, wah, would make wadi (pool of water), the Arabian term for a running stream, and commonly used by recent travellers in Africa for these habitable spots. If the Greeks took the word wadi from any MS., the transposition would be easily accounted for: wadi would be written thus وازي, and by the addition of a point وازي, wazi, easily metamorphosed, for a euphonous termination, into oasis.[8.1.10]

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

=The Lost River of the Desert.=—We have elsewhere mentioned the tradition of the absorption of the Ghaggar river, as one of the causes of the comparative depopulation of the northern desert. The couplet recording it I could not recall at the time, nor any record of the Sodha prince Hamir, in whose reign this phenomenon is said to have happened. But the utility of these ancient traditional couplets, to which I have frequently drawn the reader’s attention, has again been happily illustrated, for the name of Hamir has been incidentally discovered from the trivial circumstance of an intermarriage related in the Bhatti annals. His contemporary of Jaisalmer was Dusaj, who succeeded in S. 1100 or [295] A.D. 1044, so that we have a precise date assigned, supposing this to be the Hamir in question. The Ghaggar, which rises in the Siwalik, passes Hansi Hissar, and flowed under the walls of Bhatner, at which place they yet have their wells in its bed. Thence it passed Rangmahall, Balar, and Phulra, and through the flats of Khadal (of which Derawar is the capital), emptying itself according to some below Uchh, but according to Abu-Barakat (whom I sent to explore in 1809, and who crossed the dry bed of a stream called the Khaggar, near Shahgarh), between Jaisalmer and Rori-Bakhar. If this could be authenticated, we should say at once that, united with the branch from Dara, it gave its name to the Sangra, which unites with the Luni, enlarging the eastern branch of the Delta of the Indus.[8.1.11]

=The Lūni River.=—The next, and perhaps most remarkable feature in the desert, is the Luni, or Salt River, which, with its numerous feeders, has its source in the springs of the Aravalli. Of Marwar it is a barrier between the fertile lands and the desert; and as it leaves this country for the thal of the Chauhans, it divides that community, and forms a geographical demarcation; the eastern portion being called the Raj of Suigam; and the western part, Parkar, or beyond the Khar, or Luni.[8.1.12]

=The Rann of Cutch.=—We shall hereafter return to the country of the Chauhans, which is bounded to the south by that singular feature in the physiognomy of the desert, the Rann, or Ran, already slightly touched upon in the geographical sketch prefixed to this work. This immense salt-marsh, upwards of one hundred and fifty miles in breadth, is formed chiefly by the Luni, which, like the Rhone, after forming Lake Leman, resumes its name at its further outlet, and ends as it commences with a sacred character, having the temple of Narayan[8.1.13] at its embouchure, where it mingles with the ocean, and that of Brahma at its source of Pushkar. The Rann, or Ran, is a corruption of Aranya, or ‘the waste’;[8.1.14] nor can anything in nature be more dreary in the dry weather than this parched desert of salt and mud, the peculiar abode of the khar-gadha, or wild-ass, whose love of solitude has been commemorated by an immortal pen.[8.1.15] That this enormous depository of salt is of no recent formation we are informed by the Greek writers, whose notice it did not escape, and who have preserved in Erinos a nearer approximation to the original Aranya than exists in our Ran or Rann. Although mainly indebted to the Luni for its salt, whose bed and that of its feeders are covered with saline deposits, it is also supplied by the overflowings of the Indus, to which grand stream it may be indebted for its volume of water. We have here another strong point of physical resemblance between the valleys of the Indus and the Nile, which Napoleon [296] at once referred to the simple operations of nature; I allude to the origin of Lake Moeris, a design too vast for man.[8.1.16]

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

=Thal of the Luni.=—This embraces the tracts on both sides of the river, forming Jalor and its dependencies. Although the region south of the stream cannot be included in the thal, yet it is so intimately connected with it, that we shall not forego the only opportunity we may have of noticing it.

=Jālor.=—This tract is one of the most important divisions of Marwar. It is separated from Siwanchi by the Sukri and Khari,[8.1.17] which, with many smaller streams, flow through them from the Aravalli and Abu, aiding to fertilize its three hundred and sixty towns and villages, forming a part of the fiscal domains of Marwar. Jalor, according to the geographical stanza so often quoted, was one of the ‘nine castles of Maru,’ when the Pramar held paramount rule in Marusthali. When it was wrested from them we have no clue to discover;[8.1.18] but it had long been held by the Chauhans, whose celebrated defence of their capital against Alau-d-din, in A.D. 1301, is recorded by Ferishta, as well as in the chronicles of their bards. This branch of the Chauhan race was called Mallani, and will be again noticed, both here and in the annals of Haraoti. It formed that portion of the Chauhan sovereignty called the Hapa Raj, whose capital was Juna-Chhotan, connecting the sway of this race in the countries along the Luni from Ajmer to Parkar, which would appear to have crushed its Agnikula brother, the Pramar, and possessed all that region marked by the course of the ‘Salt River’ to Parkar.

Sonagir, the ‘golden mount,’ is the more ancient name of this castle, and was adopted by the Chauhans as distinctive of their tribe, when the older term, Mallani, was dropped for Sonigira. Here they enshrined their tutelary divinity, Mallinath, ‘god of the Malli,’ who maintained his position until the sons of Siahji entered these regions, when the name of Sonagir was exchanged for that of Jalor, contracted from Jalandharnath, whose shrine is about a coss west of the castle. Whether Jalandharnath [297], the ‘divinity of Jalandhar,’ was imported from the Ganges, or left as well as the god of the Malli by the ci-devant Mallanis, is uncertain: but should this prove to be a remnant of the foes of Alexander, driven by him from Multan,[8.1.19] its probability is increased by the caves of Jalandhar (so celebrated as a Hindu pilgrimage even in Babur’s time) being in their vicinity. Be this as it may, the Rathors, like the Roman conquerors, have added these indigenous divinities to their own pantheon. The descendants of the expatriated Sonigiras now occupy the lands of Chitalwana, near the furca of the Luni.

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

The important fortress of Jalor, guarding the southern frontier of Marwar, stands on the extremity of the range extending north to Siwana. It is from three to four hundred feet in height, fortified with a wall and bastions, on some of which cannon are mounted. It has four gates; that from the town is called the Suraj-pol, and to the north-west is the Bal-pol (‘the gate of Bal,’ the sun-god), where there is a shrine of the Jain pontiff, Parsvanath. There are many wells, and two considerable baoris, or reservoirs of good water, and to the north a small lake formed by damming up the streams from the hills; but the water seldom lasts above half the year. The town [298], which contains three thousand and seventeen houses, extends on the north and eastern side of the fort, having the Sukri flowing about a mile east of it. It has a circumvallation as well as the castle, having guns for its defence; and is inhabited by every variety of tribe, though, strange to say, there are only five families of Rajputs in its motley population. The following census was made by one of my parties, in A.D. 1813:

Houses. Malis, or gardeners 140 Telis, or oilmen, here called 100 Ghanchi Kumhars, or potters 60 Thatheras, or braziers 30 Chhipis, or printers 20 Bankers, merchants, and shopkeepers 1156 Musalman families 936 Khatiks, or butchers 20 Nais, or barbers 16 Kalals, or spirit-distillers 20 Weavers 100 Silk weavers 15 Yatis (Jain priests) 2 Brahmans 100 Gujars 40 Rajputs 5 Bhojaks[8.1.20] 20 Minas 60 Bhils 15 Sweetmeat shops 8 Ironsmiths and carpenters (Lohars 14 and Sutars) Churiwalas, or bracelet-manufacturers 4

The general accuracy of this census was confirmed.

=Sīwāna.=—Siwanchi is the tract between the Luni and Sukri, of which Siwana, a strong castle placed on the extremity of the same range with Jalor, is the capital. The country requires no particular description, being of the same nature as that just depicted. In former times it constituted, together with Nagor, the appanage of the heir-apparent of Marwar; but since the setting-up of the pretender, Dhonkal Singh, both have been attached to the fisc: in fact, there is no heir to Maru! Ferishta mentions the defence of Siwana against the arms of Alau-d-din.[8.1.21]

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

=Bhīnmāl, Sānchor.=—Bhinmal and Sanchor are the two principal subdivisions to the south, and together nearly equal the remainder of the province, each containing eighty villages. These towns are on the high-road to Cutch and Gujarat, which has given them from the most remote times a commercial celebrity. Bhinmal is said to contain fifteen hundred houses, and Sanchor about half the number.[8.1.22] Very wealthy Mahajans, or ‘merchants,’ used to reside here, but insecurity both within and without has much injured these cities, the first of which has its name, Mal (not Mahl, as in the map), from its wealth as a mart.[8.1.23] There is a temple of Baraha (Varaha, the incarnation of the hog), with a great sculptured boar. Sanchor possesses also a distinct celebrity from being the cradle of a class of Brahmans called Sanchora, who are the officiating priests of some of the most celebrated temples in these regions, as that of Dwarka, Mathura, Pushkar, Nagar-Parkar, etc.[8.1.24] The name of Sanchor is corrupted from Satipura, Sati, or Suttee’s town, said to be very ancient.

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

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

=Bālotra, Tīlwāra.=—Balotra, Tilwara, are two celebrated names in the geography of this region, and have an annual fair, as renowned in Rajputana as that of Leipsic in Germany. Though called the Balotra mela (literally, 'an assemblage, or [300] concourse of people'), it was held at Tilwara, several miles south,[8.1.25] near an island of the Luni, which is sanctified by a shrine of Mallinath, ‘the divinity of the Malli,’ who, as already mentioned, is now the patron god of the Rathors. Tilwara forms the fief of another relative of the Mewa family, and Balotra, which ought to belong to the fisc, did and may still belong to Awa, the chief noble of Marwar. But Balotra and Sandri have other claims to distinction, having, with the original estate of Dunara, formed the fief of Durgadas, the first character in the annals of Maru, and whose descendant yet occupies Sandri. The fief of Mewa, which includes them all, was rated at fifty thousand rupees annually. The Pattayats with their vassalage occasionally go to court, but hold themselves exempt from service except on emergencies. The call upon them is chiefly for the defence of the frontier, of which they are the Simiswara, or lord-marchers.

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

=Gūgadeo ka Thal.=—The thal of Guga, a name celebrated in the heroic history of the Chauhans, is immediately north of Indhavati, and one description will suit both. The sand-ridges (thal-ka-tiba) are very lofty in all this tract; very thinly inhabited; few villages; water far from the surface, and having considerable jungles. Tob, Phalsund, and Bimasar are the chief towns in this rui. They collect rain-water in reservoirs called tanka, which they are obliged to use sparingly, and often while a mass of corruption, producing that peculiar disease in the eyes called rataundha (corrupted by us to rotunda) or night-blindness,[8.1.26] for with the return of day it passes off.

=Tararoi.=—The thal of Tararoi intervenes between that of Gugadeo and the present frontier of Jaisalmer, to which it formerly belonged.[8.1.27] Pokaran is the chief town, not of Tararoi only, but of all the desert interposed between the two chief capitals of Marusthali. The southern part of this thal does not differ from that described, but its northern portion, and more especially for sixteen to twenty miles around the city of Pokaran, are low disconnected ridges of loose rock, the continuation of that on which stands the capital of the Bhattis, which give, as we have already said, to this oasis the epithet of Mer, or rocky. The name of Tararoi is derived from tar, which signifies moisture, humidity [301] from springs, or the springs themselves, which rise from this rui. Pokaran, the residence of Salim Singh (into the history of whose family we have so fully entered in the Annals of Marwar), is a town of two thousand houses, surrounded by a stone wall, and having a fort, mounting several guns on its eastern side. Under the west side of the town, the inhabitants have the unusual sight in these regions of running water, though only in the rainy season, for it is soon absorbed by the sands. Some say it comes from the Sar of Kanod, others from the springs in the ridge; at all events, they derive a good and plentiful supply of water from the wells excavated in its bed. The chief of Pokaran, besides its twenty-four villages, holds lands between the Luni and Bandi rivers to the amount of a lakh of rupees. Dunara and Manzil, the fief of the loyal Durgadas, are now in the hands of the traitor Salim. Three coss to the north of Pokaran is the village of Ramdeora, so named from a shrine to Ramdeo, one of the Paladins of the desert, and which attracts people from all quarters to the Mela, or fair, held in the rainy month of Bhadon.[8.1.28] Merchants from Karachi-bandar, Tatta, Multan, Shikarpur, and Cutch here exchange the produce of various countries: horses, camels, and oxen used also to be reared in great numbers, but the famine of 1813, and anarchy ever since Raja Man’s accession, added to the interminable feuds between the Bhattis and Rathors, have checked all this desirable intercourse, which occasionally made the very heart of the desert a scene of joy and activity.

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

=Mallināth, Bārmer.=—The whole of this region was formerly inhabited by a tribe called Malli or Mallani, who, although asserted by some to be Rathor in origin, are assuredly Chauhan, and of the same stock as the ancient lords of Juna Chhotan. Barmer was reckoned, before the last famine, to contain one [302] thousand two hundred houses, inhabited by all classes, one-fourth of whom were Sanchora Brahmans.[8.1.29] The town is situated in the same range as Sheo-Kotra, here two to three hundred feet in height. From Sheo to Barmer there is a good deal of flat intermingled with low tibas of sand, which in favourable seasons produces enough food for consumption. Padam Singh, the Barmer chief, is of the same stock as those of Sheo Kotra and Jasol; from the latter they all issue, and he calculates thirty-four villages in his feudal domain. Formerly, a dani (which is, literally rendered, douanier) resided here to collect the transit duties; but the Sahariyas have rendered this office a sinecure, and the chief of Barmer takes the little it realizes to himself. They find it more convenient to be on a tolerably good footing with the Bhattis, from whom this tract was conquered, than with their own head, whose officers they very often oppose, especially when a demand is made upon them for dand; on which occasion they do not disdain to call in the assistance of their desert friends, the Sahariyas. Throughout the whole of this region they rear great numbers of the best camels, which find a ready market in every part of India.

=Kherdhar.=—‘The land of Kher’[8.1.30] has often been mentioned in the annals of these States. It was in this distant nook that the Rathors first established themselves, expelling the Gohil tribe, which migrated to the Gulf of Cambay, and are now lords of Gogha and Bhavnagar; and instead of steering ‘the ship of the desert’ in their piracies on the kafilas, plied the Great Indian Ocean, even “to the golden coast of Sofala,” in the yet more nefarious trade of slaves. It is difficult to learn what latitude they affixed to the ‘land of Kher,’ which in the time of the Gohils approximated to the Luni; nor is it necessary to perplex ourselves with such niceties, as we only use the names for the purpose of description. In all probability it comprehended the whole space afterwards occupied by the Mallani or Chauhans, who founded Juna-Chhotan, etc., which we shall therefore include in Kherdhar. Kheralu, the chief town, was one of the ‘nine castles of Maru,’ when the Pramar was its sovereign lord. It has now dwindled into an insignificant village, containing no more than forty houses, surrounded on all sides by hills “of a black colour,” part of the same chain from Bhuj.

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

=Nagar Gurha.=—Between Barmer and Nagar-Gurha on the Luni is one immense continuous thal, or rather rui, containing deep jungles of khair, or kher, khejra, karil, khep, phog,[8.1.31] whose gums and berries are turned to account by the Bhils and Kolis of the southern districts. Nagar and Gurha are two large towns on the Luni (described in the itinerary), on the borders of the Chauhan raj of Suigam, and formerly part of it.

Here terminate our remarks on the thals of western Marwar, which, sterile as it is by the hand of Nature, had its miseries completed by the famine that raged generally throughout these regions in S. 1868 (A.D. 1812), and of which this[8.1.32] is the third year. The disorders which we have depicted as prevailing at the seat of government for the last thirty years, have left these remote regions entirely to the mercy of the desert tribes [304], or their own scarce less lawless lords: in fact, it only excites our astonishment how man can vegetate in such a land, which has nothing but a few sars, or salt-lakes, to yield any profit to the proprietors, and the excellent camel pastures, more especially in the southern tracts, which produce the best breed in the desert.

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Footnote 8.1.1:

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

Footnote 8.1.2:

[Kānod Mohindargarh in Patiāla State (IGI, xvii. 385).]

Footnote 8.1.3:

It left Delhi October 13, 1808.

Footnote 8.1.4:

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

Footnote 8.1.5:

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

Footnote 8.1.6:

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

Footnote 8.1.7:

A name often given by Ferishta to the Indus.

Footnote 8.1.8:

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

Footnote 8.1.9:

[Jhāl, of which there are two varieties, large and small, Salvadora persica and S. oleoides.]

Footnote 8.1.10:

When I penned this conjectural etymology, I was not aware that any speculation had been made upon this word: I find, however, the late M. Langlés suggested the derivation of oasis (variously written by the Greeks αὔασις, ἴασις and υἅσις, ὄασις, [αὔασις is the only other recognized form]) from the Arabic واح: and Dr. Wait, in a series of interesting etymologies (see Asiatic Journal, May 1830), suggests वसि, vasi from वस, vas, ‘to inhabit.’ Vasi and ὕασις quasi vasis are almost identical. My friend, Sir W. Ouseley, gave me nearly the same signification of وادي, Wadi, as appears in Johnson’s edition of Richardson, namely, a valley, a desert, a channel of a river—a river; وادي, wadi-al-kabir, ‘the great river,’ corrupted into Guadalquiver, which example is also given in d’Herbelot (see Vadi Gehennem), and by Thompson, who traces the word water through all the languages of Europe—the Saxon waeter, the Greek ὔδωρ, the Islandic udr, the Slavonic wod (whence woder and oder, ‘a river’): all appear derivable from the Arabic wad, ‘a river’—or the Sanskrit wah; and if Dr. W. will refer to p. 1322 of the Itinerary, he will find a singular confirmation of his etymology in the word bas (classically vas) applied to one of these habitable spots. The word basti, also of frequent occurrence therein, is from basna, to inhabit; vasi, an inhabitant; or vas, a habitation, perhaps derivable from wah, indispensable to an oasis! [The New English Dict. gives Lat. oasis, Greek ὄασις, apparently of Egyptian origin; cf. Coptic ouahe (whence Egyptian Arabic wāh), ‘dwelling-place, oasis,’ from ouih, ‘to dwell.’]

Footnote 8.1.11:

[See IGI, xii. 212 f.; E. H. Aitken, Gazetteer of Sind, 4; Calcutta Review, 1874; JRAS, xxv. 49 ff.]

Footnote 8.1.12:

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

Footnote 8.1.13:

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

Footnote 8.1.14:

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

Footnote 8.1.15:

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

Footnote 8.1.16:

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

Footnote 8.1.17:

Another salt river.

Footnote 8.1.18:

[The Chauhān Rāo Kīrttipāl took it from the Pramāras towards the end of the twelfth century, and Kānardeo Chauhān lost it to Alāu-d-dīn (Erskine iii. A. 199 f.). In Briggs’ translation of Ferishta (i. 370) the place is called Jalwar, and the King Nāhardeo.]

Footnote 8.1.19:

Multan and Juna (Chhotan, qu. Chauhan-tan?) have the same signification, ‘the ancient abode,’ and both were occupied by the tribe of Malli or Mallani, said to be of Chauhan race; and it is curious to find at Jalor (classically Jalandhar) the same divinities as in their haunts in the Panjab, namely, Mallinath, Jalandharnath, and Balnath. Abu-l-Fazl says, “The cell of Balnath is in the middle of Sindsagar”; and Babur (Elliot-Dowson ii. 450, iv. 240, 415, v. 114, Āīn, ii. 315) places “Balnath-jogi below the hill of Jud, five marches east of the Indus,” the very spot claimed by the Yadus, when led out of India by their deified leader Baldeo, or Balnath.

Footnote 8.1.20:

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

Footnote 8.1.21:

[Ferishta (i. 369) calls the Rāja Sītaldeo; Amīr Khusru (Elliot-Dowson iii. 78, 550, v. 166) Sutaldeo.]

Footnote 8.1.22:

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

Footnote 8.1.23:

[The old name was Srīmāl or Bhillamāla, which Erskine (iii. A. 194) identifies with Pi-lo-mo-lo of Hiuen Tsiang. But Beal (Buddhist Records of the Western World, ii. 270) transliterates this name as Bālmer or Bārmer.]

Footnote 8.1.24:

[For the Sāchora or Sānchora Brāhmans see BG, ix. Part i. 18; Erskine iii. A. 84.]

Footnote 8.1.25:

[Tīlwāra is about 10 miles W. of Bālotra.]

Footnote 8.1.26:

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

Footnote 8.1.27:

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

Footnote 8.1.28:

[Rāmdeora is 12 miles N. of Pokaran. The saint is commonly called Rāmdeoji or Rāmsāh Pīr.]

Footnote 8.1.29:

[Bārmer, the ancient name of which is said to be Bāhadamer, ‘hill fort of Bāhada,’ is 130 miles W. of Jodhpur city; its present population is 6064. Mallināth was son of Rāo Salkha, eighth in descent from Siāhji, founder of Mārwār State.]

Footnote 8.1.30:

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

Footnote 8.1.31:

[Khair, Acacia catechu; Khejra, Prosopis spicigera; Karīl, Capparis aphylla; Khep, Crotolaria burhia; Phog, Calligonum polygonoides.]

Footnote 8.1.32:

That is, 1814. I am transcribing from my journals of that day, just after the return of one of my parties of discovery from these regions, bringing with them natives of Dhat, who, to use their own simple but expressive phraseology, “had the measure of the desert in the palm of their hands”; for they had been employed as kasids, or messengers, for thirty years of their lives. Two of them afterwards returned and brought away their families, and remained upwards of five years in my service, and were faithful, able, and honest in the duties I assigned them, as jamadars of daks, or superintendents of posts, which were for many years under my charge when at Sindhia’s court, extending at one time from the Ganges to Bombay, through the most savage and little-known regions in India. But with such men as I drilled to aid in these discoveries, I found nothing insurmountable. [The famine of 1812-13 was the most calamitous of the earlier visitations (Erskine iii. A. 125).]

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