Râs mâlâ ... : or Hindoo annals of the province of Goozerat in Western India

Introduction

Since the Ras Mala was first published, in 1856, there has been an increasing demand for a fresh edition, and it is to satisfy this demand that the present reprint has been put through the press.

Though professing to be a mere collection of legends, or garland of chronicles, the Ras Mala is in fact the first and most important epitome of the history of Goozerat hitherto made. It is the work of a profound and accurate scholar, pervaded by a thorough and intelli¬ gent sympathy with the people whose historical phases and domestic life he has in this work so vividly depicted. And though the Author in his original Preface modestly disclaimed for his book all preten¬ sions to a scientific character, the work is in truth eminently scientific, and shows us Goozerat under each of the great dynasties which have swayed her destinies ; and whether under the Wullubhee kings, the Chavadas or Chalookyas of Unhilwara, the renowned Sultans of Goozerat, or the even more famous house of Timur the lame; whether he describes Goozerat under the Guikowar or the Guelphs, we find his pictures not only true but pleasing, not only accurate but interesting.

When, too, we consider the vastness of the field of time compre¬ hended in this single volume, stretching as it does from the days of the half-fabulous monarchs of Wullubhee to the middle of the nineteenth century after Christ, it must be conceded that Mr. Forbes has most ably acquitted himself of his interesting task, and it is im¬ possible to say what a debt of gratitude is due from all Goozerat officials to the Author of the Ras Mall He has brought home to is no less Sidh Raj, “the Lion of Victory,” and the politic Koomar Pal, than Ahmed Shah, or the gallant Mahmood Begurra — the one the

IV

INTRODUCTION.

founder of that proud city on the banks of the Sabhermutee, which the Mohummedan historians loved to call the “ ornament of cities,” and the other the conqueror alike of Gurh^ Girnar^ and Powan-gurh Champaner ; while, at the same time, he has shown us the Emperor Akbar and Damajee Guikowar, and described the first advent of the British power.

It is easiest to picture what the official mind would be without him, by referring to the obsolete opinions held on most important questions of tenure, &c., as shown in the old Revenue Selections ; though indeed we also find there that the lucid intellect of Elphinstone had already thrown much light upon the subject, and had pre¬ vented grievous injustice being done to large classes of landed pro¬ prietors. Still, even now it is most instructive to read any of the Government selections relating to Goozerat after a careful study of Ras Mala.

When, too, it is borne in mind that, excepting the Ras Mala, there is no other work which affords any check to the mass of error that may be found in most of the Government Selections relating to Goo¬ zerat, and when we also remember that not only are these Selections liberally quoted by parties in any ordinary dispute, but often accepted by Government itself, as works laying down dicta from which there can be no appeal, it is easy to picture the benefit conferred by the Ras Mala on Government officials of every class.

To give an example of some of these errors I will quote from one of the best Selections I refer to that containing Colonel Walker’s reports on the province of Kateewar, — and from that select one of the most interesting reports, viz., that on Soreth.

At paragraph 32 Colonel Whlker speaks of Sher Rhan Babi, a scion of one of the noblest Mohummedan families in the province, whose father and grandfather before him had governed large districts, as “ a soldier of fortune.”

Lower down, in paragraph 37, we find the following astounding statement, viz., “ Sher Khan did not long survive his establishment “ in Soreth. He was succeeded by his son Salabat Khan, who “ shortly afterwards retired to Goozerat, and left his son Bahadoor

INTRODUCTION.

V

“ Khan at Joonagadh in possession of the Government.” The reader will probably be surprised to hear that Sher Khan long survived his establishment in Soreth ; that so far from his being succeeded by his son Salabat Khan, Salabat Khan was his (Sher Khan’s) father, and that Bahadoor Khan so far from being his grandson, was Sher Khan himself, Bahadoor Khan being the style assumed by Sher Khan after becoming independent at Joonagurh.

And so again in paragraph 49 “Salabat Khan bequeathed to his “ sons Dillut Khan and Zeman Khan, who were junior to Bahadoor “ Khan, the district of Bantwa.” The truth being that Bantwa never belonged to Salabat Khan, and that Diler Khan and Sher Zaman Khan (not Dillut Khan and Zeman Khan) succeeded their father in his jagir of Gogha, but were thence expelled by Sohrab Khan, who afterwards, through the influence of Burhan-ool-Moolk at the court of Delhi, obtained not only the jagirdari of Gogha from the Babis, but also the Naib-Foujdari of Soreth ; and it was when exercising these latter functions that he granted Bantwa in jagir to Diler Khan and Sher Zaman Khan, as he saw the imprudence of alienating this in¬ fluential family.

Now the Ras Mala is almost always accurate, and even where possibly better versions of historical facts may be offered than those accepted by Mr. Forbes, it will invariably be found that he had the best authority then available for his statements. The researches of Dr. Biihler1 show that the four kings of the name of Sheeladitya, mentioned at page 16 of the Ras Mala, may be increased to five. Dr. Biihler gives the date of this fifth monarch as St. 441 of the at present unknown era, and this prolongation of the rule of theWullubhee line may perhaps eventually show that the Mlechh destroyers of this renowned city were some of the earlier Musalman invaders ; even though the name of another king be not discovered, and added to those of the eighteen of the line at present known.

With regard to the Solunkhee kings of Unhilwara, Dr. Buhler’s researches have (see his “ eleven land grants of the- Chaulukyas of

1 Indian Antiquary, part Ixiii., for January, 1877.

INTRODUCTION.

“ Unhilw&d ”) shown us cause to believe that the story of Mool Rij’s arrival at Samunt Singh’s court, as given by Mr. Forbes, on the authority of the Prubundh Chintamunee, is a fabrication cf the chroniclers and bards, and that in reality Mool Raj conquered the Sarasvatimandal by force of arms. He gives good reasons why we should consider the Kuleean, where Mool Raj’s father ruled, was. as stated by the chroniclers, in the Kanouj dominions, and that it :s not the Kuleean near Bombay, as supposed by Mr. Forbes (Ras Mala) and by Mr. Elphinstone. He modifies the date ascribed by Mr. Forbes to Bheem Dev I., and adds a new monarch, Tree¬

'll hoowun Pal (S. 1299), as a twelfth sovereign. Dr. Biihler further shows that the dismemberment of the Unhilwara kingdom and the establishment of an independent principality by Luwun Prusad, the Waghela chieftain of Dholka, took place during the reign of Bheem Dev II. Luwun Prusad was succeeded by his son Veer Dhuwul, and Dr. Biihler shows that Veesul Dev, Veer Dhuwul’s successor, displaced Treehoowun Pal on the throne of Unhilwara, probably by force of arms. It would seem from local tradition in Goozerat that Veesul Dev made Dubhoee his capital previous to the conquest of Unhilwara Puttun, and it is probable that any inscriptions found at Dubhoee may elucidate this point. The Waghelas, who derived their name from the township of Waghel, in North Goozerat (now under Radhanpoor), were the most renowned branch of the Solunkhees in Goozerat, and a local poem celebrating the nine branches of the Solunkhees commences, “ The greatest branch is that of Waghel ; “ consider them most excellent Solunkhees.”

Dr. Biihler, at page 5 of his pamphlet on the Chalookyas of Unhilwara, points out that the reason of the information given in the Ras Mala being scanty is that Somesvara’s * Kirtikaumudi, ” Rajasekhara’s “ Prabandh Kosha,” and Harshagani’s “ Vastoopalacharitra ” were not available when Mr. Forbes wrote.

There are of course inaccuracies in dates in cases where legends are faithfully copied, for all legends are notoriously untrustworthy in such matters. A curious instance occurs in the account of the Gohil clan, where Ranjee Gohil, the father, is represented as expelled from

INTRODUCTION.

vii

Ranpoor by Mahmood Begurra while Mokherajee, Gohil, the son, is slain in battle fighting with the Emperor Mohummed Toghluk, their respective dates being, Mahmood Begurra a.d. 1459 to 1511, and Mohummed Togluk a.d. 1323 to 1351; but I can also bear witness that the original legend contains precisely this anachronism.

Though the rule of the imperial viceroys under the house of Timur is but briefly noticed, it could hardly be expected that so long a period could be introduced in a single volume, nevertheless the concluding days of the imperial rule and the gradual assumption of the paramount sway by, first the Mahrattas and then the British, is graphically described.

Imbued as he was with a thorough admiration for the Rajpoot races, we can hardly expect Mr. Forbes to be quite fair to the Mahrattas ; but it is only just to say that his predecessors, Colonel Walker and others, are equally, if not more prejudiced against them ; and even so late as 1842, I find so high an authority as Sir G. Le Grand Jacob speaking in an official report of “ the customary Mahratta process of deglutition.” It is, however, but fair to the Mahrattas to point out that when they entered Goozerat they were hailed as deliverers from the Mogul yoke, and to show that the decay of the imperial power was caused more by the general disaffection of the Hindoo chieftains, the impatience of the predatory tribes, whose license of plunder had been sternly checked, and the efforts towards independence of the imperial servants, than it ever was by the Mahratta incursions, which, without connivance, would have been impossible.

The Mahrattas, indeed, in Goozerat almost immediately aimed at territorial acquisition, and the establishment of Peelajee Guikowar at Songurh was speedily followed by a secret treaty with Rajpeepla for an unobstructed passage through his territory, and an unhindered cross¬ ing of the Nerbudda at Baba Piarah’s ford. Owing to this connivance with the Guikowar, the chieftain of Rajpeepla was afterwards enabled to reconquer his ancient capital of Nandod and absorb the whole of the Nandod Sarkar. It was owing to the Mahrattas that Eedur was able to expel its Mohummedan garrison, and that the tributary Sarkar of Nowanugger, in the peninsula, which had been made Khalsa by vm

INTRODUCTION.

Aurangzeb, was able again to resume its tributary relations. By Mahratta sufferance the Thakoris were undisturbed in their jagirs of Pahlunpoor and Devee (Deesa), and, but for Mahratta moderation, neither would Sher Khan Babi and his descendants have been allowed to absorb the imperial district of Soreth, nor would many other of the local chieftains of the peninsula have been able to enlarge their petty holdings into extensive principalities by wholesale absorption of the imperial domain.

One of the reasons why this absorption was so easy was this : in latter times, as the imperial hold on the province grew more slack, it was customary to farm out the villages for a fixed sum (jama), and, as in the case of the peninsula, the farmers were almost invariably the local landholders, nothing was easier than to retain a hold over the villages so farmed when the power of collecting the jama was gone. In almost every case the Mahrattas were very moderate in their demands, and, indeed, until the time of Shivram Gardee and Babajee Appajee, the latter of whom was strengthened by the countenance of the English, not only were the amounts of tribute levied in the peninsula enforced with the greatest irregularity, but the actual sums taken were insignificant in amount ; and if we are to believe the Tarikh-i-Soreth, so late as a.d. 1803-4 Babajee himself had to refund two-thirds of the amount of tribute levied, owing to the pressure exerted by the armies of the Joonagurh Dewan.

Mr. Forbes notices that the Moolukgeeree circuits of the Mahrattas were merely copied from their Mogul predecessors, from whose official nomenclature not only the term Moolukgeeree, but also most of the official titles and technical revenue terms, etc., in Goozerat are borrowed.

Nor is it merely in historical detail that Mr. Forbes’s volumes are instructive. About one fourth of the volume is devoted to an account of the customs of the different classes of natives ; their religious services, marriages, funerals are specially dealt with, together with their ideas regarding Bhoots, and other popular beliefs, and a very able and elaborate account of the Rajpoot land tenures under the Mohummedans, the Mahrattas, and the British is also furnished.

INTRODUCTION.

IX

No t only has the general scheme of the government of this importaint province and the history of the governing dynasties been ac¬ curately and faithfully pourtrayed, but together with this we have his¬ tories of the principal Rajpoot houses, who then, as now, were among the principal nobles of the empire; and we are thus enabled to form a more thorough conception of the times depicted, as we read of the subject from the view both of the rulers and the governed.

There are but few other books of reference about Goozerat, and none <of them of so encyclopaedic a character. Bird’s “ Goozerat ” con¬ tains, amongst certain historical speculations of the author, a translation of the smallest and least important portion of the “ Mirat-i-Ahmadi,” and tlhat translation contains several errors. Brigg’s “ Ferishta ” gives the same period as Bird, also with a few errors. Colonel Tod alone, in his “ Western India,” deals with the Unhilwara kings and more recent times,, while Forbes’ “ Oriental Memoirs,” and a few others, complete the list.

These works, however, instructive and valuable though they are in many respects, are so much more limited in their scope than the Ras Mala that they fail to give us what this work does, viz., a complete sketch of the history of the province from the earliest times to the present day. All government officials will, I am sure, willingly acknowledge what they owe to this valuable book, and not only will they, as well as others, gladly hail its reprint, but I feel sure that government will in its turn be better served accordingly as its servants study the contents.1

JOHN W. WATSON.

Bailacheri, Kathiawar,

November 8th, 1877.

1 It has been thought well to retain in this Introduction the same form in the spelling of Indian names which has been used by the Author.

- - -

Preface

To ancient India — a subject attractive to the historian and the scholar — much attention has been directed ; the more humble task of Investigating its mediaeval story has been comparatively little attempted. If, however, the days of Asoka and of Chundragoopt afford a nobler field of enquiry, it should not, on that account, be forgotten that the times which are less remote are more practically connected with existing Hindoostan. Modern India, moreover, affords a safe basis from which to stretch forward to immediately preceding times, while as long as these shall continue to be covered with darkness, it is but a hazardous task to grasp at the light, however splendid, which shines beyond them. The stranger who is for any length of time resident in the land of the Hindoos can hardly fail to notice customs and usages of that people which are evidently relics of a state of society not long gone by — visions, as it were, of a noble vessel, whose phantom-like outline, if only by an illusion such as that which produces the Fata Morgana, exhibits, in exalted reflec¬ tion, these existing things. The very remains of Moslem power themselves are most strongly impressed with the character of the race whose rule was supplanted by that of the crescent, and from even these we might have gathered the fact that many a splendid metro¬ polis must have adorned the plains of Aryaverta before the avalanche of Mohummedan invasion fell from the western mountains upon the land. We have, however, more definite traces of these glories of by¬ gone days, and can picture to ourselves, at least in outline, the gorgeous Kanouj, the mysterious Yogeeneepoor, the almost fabulous metropolis of Bhoj. Nor did the cities which we have mentioned

XU

PREFACE.

exist alone. The monarchs of Kuleean extended their sway over a territory more ample still than that which owned the supremacy of either, and equal, at least, to the Purmar, the Chohan, or the Rathor was the Solunkhee of Unhilpoor.

It is to the story of the city of Wun Raj, and of the Hindoo prin¬ cipalities and chieftainships which sprang up amidst its ruins, and which have, many of them, continued in existence to the present day, that the reader’s attention is in the present work invited. I am well aware that my subject— not only Indian, but also local, as it is — is likely to be one of but little general interest, nor am I blind to many of my own deficiencies in its treatment. Eight years’ residence in Goozerat, and much association, public and private, with its varied people, from the banks of the Taptee to those of the Bunas, may, however, have given me some advantages.

While at the outset disclaiming, on my own part, all pretensions to Oriental learning, I have, nevertheless, to mention that I have received from Hindoo scholars assistance which, though it detract from the merit of the compiler, will not be thought to lessen the value of the compilation.

To the late Peerchundjee Bhundaree, a native of Marwar and a Jain by religion, who, though a member of the commercial class, which is usually indifferent to literature, was a proficient in both the classical and the popular lore of his nation, I am obliged, first, for the gift of a copy of the Prubundh Chintamunee, and, secondly, for in¬ dispensable assistance in translating it.

To Dulputram Daya, a Brahmin, and a native of Wudwan, on the frontier of Soreth, I am still more widely indebted.

I had not been very long in Goozerat when, in the course of my public employment, a paper was placed be¬ fore me which bore the»characteristic signa¬ tures of two bards.1 My curiosity was excited ; I made enquiries, and sought the acquaintance of such of the class as were within my reach. Of the

1 This paper will be found translated in the note in book iii. chap. vi.

PREFACE.

XU1 treasures of the bardic repertoire I thus obtained a glimpse which stimulated instead of satisfying me. I soon felt that native assistance was absolutely necessary both to enable me to overcome the scruples of those who possessed the legendary hoard in which 1 desired to participate, and also to furnish me with some knowledge of the bardic dialect, which was required as a means of unlocking the casket in which the treasure was contained. Good fortune brought early to my notice the name of the Kuveshwur, or poet, — for with that title Dulputram is invested by the suffrage of his countrymen, — and I secured his services in a.d. 1848. From that period my valuable coadjutor has been almost constantly by my side. It was some time before our efforts met with any success, although I furnished him with the means of making the tour of a considerable portion of Goozerat, with the view of collecting chronicles and traditions, and of copying inscriptions. It might, perhaps, amuse, but would certainly weary, the reader were I to describe the numerous obstacles which we found opposed to us, by ignorance, jealousy, and avarice. Sufficient notion of these will be conveyed when I mention the facts that I was some¬ times believed to be employed in searching for concealed treasure, that at other times my object was supposed to be that of detecting flaws in the titles to lands with the view of their assumption by government, and that it was frequently hinted to me that the proper return for permission to extract from a bardic record would be the presentation of a village to the family of the recorder. Subsequently, however, my official duties brought me into personal contact with the chiefs of the Waghela, Jhala, and Gohil clans, and I soon discovered that a hint from one of these traditionally-honored feudal lords was far more influential than any intreaties which I could use, or any advantages which I could offer. As Political Agent in the Myhee Kanta, I found these facilities extended not only to the clans of that province, but also to the Guikowar territories (from the authorities of which I had received at least one previous rebuff), and through the kindness of Baba Sahib, the worthy lieutenant of the Baroda government at Puttun, I secured a copy of the Dwyashray, and other valuable materials from the very centre of interest — the site of Unhilpoor.

nv

PREFACE.

My researches, pursued, as they necessarily were, in the hoirs of relaxation from tolerably heavy official duties, were not confined to the Jain and the bardic chronicles ; I availed myself also of every opportunity of observing Hindoo popular customs, more especially such as were alluded to in the writings and traditions wlich I collected ; I procured copies of inscriptions on temples, well:, and tombstones, and I examined every remnant of Hindoo architecture which I found myself able to visit. In this last department of enquiry much assistance was furnished me by Premchund Sulat, the able architect of the new Jain temple at Ahmedabad, and by two very in¬ telligent persons of the carpenter caste — the late Turbhowundas, and Bhoodhur Dayaram.

Meanwhile the Goozerat Vernacular Society sprung up, and the Kuveshwur, who was well prepared for the purpose, won prizes for two essays, — on popular superstitions in Goozerat, and on Hindoo castes — of both of which I have made much use in the Fourth Book of the present work.

My return for a limited period to England, and the valuable per¬ mission of the Honorable the Court of Directors of the East India Company to my inspecting the records, have enabled me to complete my labours. The result is now placed before the public, in the hope that, unworthy as it is, it may still be of use to the local officer, and may interest some few even of my countrymen at home in the fortunes of their fellow-subjects — the Hindoos in Goozerat.

In imitation of the titles of some of the legends from which it is derived, I have called my compilation “ Ras Mala,” or “ A Garland of Chronicles.”1

1 As the present work is wholly popular, and advances no pretensions to a scientific character, I have used the common form in spelling names which are in daily use, and I have, in other cases, adopted the mode of spelling which ex¬ perience has shown me to be most readily accepted by the general reader. Thus, for the correct Khumbayut, I use Cambay , a word which has established itself in English literature ; and for the classical Anhilpur I substitute the popular Unhilpoor, which is to be pronounced according to the usual sound of the vowels in English. I have, however, taken the liberty of accenting one letter, the long d, as in Ras Mala. Wherever it occurs it should be pronounced as the a in Mario. May I trouble the reader so far as to add, that the ye in Jye Singh, Shutroonjyc , &c., should be pronounced as the_y in why, by, &c., or as the igh in high.

XV

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

"A LIFE UNBLAMABLE AND JUST."

It is thought that the admirers of the Ras Mala will be glad to know something of the life of the author.

Alexander Kinloch Forbes was born in London, in July, 1821, and educated at a school at Finchley. He was then articled to an archi¬ tect, but having in 1840 received an appointment to the Bombay Civil Service from Sir Charles Forbes, he went to the College at Haileybury. He left this in 1842, and arrived in Bombay in November, 1843.

He spent the first two years and a half of his service as Assistant Collector in Ahmednugger and Khandeish, and in November, 1846, went to Ahmedabad as Assistant Judge. From this time till he went home, in March, 1854, he served continuously in Goozerat, not in the judicial department only, but also in the appointments of First Assistant Collector at Ahmedabad and Political Agent in the Myhee Kanta. During his furlough he worked up all the materials he had got together during these years into the Ras Mala, which was pub¬ lished in 1856.

He returned to India at the end of 1856, and went to Surat as Act¬ ing Judge, and in 1858 served in the same capacity in Khandeish, But, as was to be expected, he found the Mahratta country tame and unin¬ teresting after Goozerat, which he appreciated so highly, and on the Political Agency of Kateewar falling vacant, he applied for it, at the same time expressing his willingness to spend the rest of his service in that appointment It was then much less thought of and not so well xvi

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

paid as now ; so that this offer showed how little he had of the ordinary ambition of getting on in the service. The appointment, however, was not given to him, but in September, 1859, when he was about to leave his acting appointment in Khandeish for a lower one, he unexpectedly received from Lord Elphinstone an order to go immediately to Katee¬ war and take temporarily, and with special powers, the appointment which had been refused him shortly before. The circumstances of the province had in the meantime changed, and the occasion was press¬ ing, as the Waghars in Okamandal were in a state of rebellion, requir¬ ing the despatch of a military force from Bombay to coerce them, and it was feared that the disturbances might extend to the rest of Ka¬ teewar. Mr. Forbes, therefore, made no objection, but went at very short notice ; and by March, i860, the Waghars were subdued, and his special work done. A permanent vacancy could not be made for him in Kateewar, and he therefore returned to Surat as Acting Judge. But his proceedings in Kateewar, and his reports on the settlement and government of the province, were highly approved both by the Bombay government and the home authorities, and in March, 1861, Sir George Clerk gave him the acting appointment of Secretary to Government. In December of the same year there was a vacancy in the Sudder Adawlut, and Sir George Clerk wrote that he felt bound to offer it to him, sorry as he should be to lose him from the secretariat. The work of the latter, however, was not nearly so much to Mr. Forbes’s taste as judicial business, and he therefore accepted the appointment in the Sudder Court, which in August, 1862, made him a Judge of the Bombay High Court, and in this he remained till his death. The only other office he held was the honorary one of Vice-Chancellor of the University, which Sir Bartle Frere gave him in December, 1864. He died at Poona on August 31st, 1865, after a short illness, having shortly before completed his forty-fourth year.

Mr. Forbes’s administrative capacity is proved by the name he made in each department in which he served, and by the value set on his services by governors of such great though various ability as Lord Elphinstone, Sir George Clerk and Sir Bartle Frere. Of his learning and literary skill the Ras Mala is the most lasting record.

LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.

XVU

Though it was from the first highly appreciated by those who were inclined to studies of the sort, and favourably received by some English papers, yet it must be remembered that twenty years ago the kind of research which it shows was far less fashionable than now, when every district has its own historian of one sort or another. And so it has come to pass, as Dr. Wilson with his usual acuteness predicted at the time of Mr. Forbes’s death, that the Ras Mala is more highly valued as time goes on, because the very multiplication of works of this sort has proved how difficult it is to reach the standard of its excellence. Sir Henry Lawrence, whose acquaintance Mr. Forbes had made at Mount Aboo in 1853, and whom he regarded with the greatest reverence and affection, compared it favourably with the work which had long been looked on as the first of the sort, and the letter which he wrote on this occasion is worth giving entire : —

“My dear Forbes, — Best thanks for your kind invitation to Surat, but my face, I am sorry to say, is turned towards Lucknow, where I am off post-haste. I should have been glad to have met you again. I have been much interested in and edified by your book, which is a vast improvement on Tod. I wish I could have talked over Goozerat with you. I took a ride round it last month. With kind regards to Mrs. Forbes,

“ Yours very sincerely,

“ H. M. Lawrence.”

It must seem particularly surprising to those who know by experience the difficulty of getting together any local history in this country that Mr. Forbes, in a little over seven years from first going to Goozerat and beginning to study its language, should have collected such stores of information, and become so thoroughly acquainted with everything connected with the province. Mr. Dalpaliam Dayabhai, who was engaged by Mr. Forbes in 1848 as a Goozerathi pundit, has given an account of his mode of study. He had before that begun to collect manuscripts and to take copies of them, and at first used to read Goozerathi poetry with Mr. Dalpaliam for two hours a