CHAPTER 15
Rāna Sangrām Singh II., A.D. 1710-34.
Deposition of Farrukhsīyar: Nizāmu-l-mulk.
Murder of Farrukhsīyar, May 16, 1719.
Accession of Rafiu-d-darajāt.
Accession of Roshan-Akhtar Muhammad Shah, A.D. 1719-48.
The Policy of Mewār.
Rana Sangram ruled eighteen [twenty-four] years; under him Mewar was respected, and the greater portion of her lost territory was regained. His selection of Biharidas Pancholi evinced his penetration, for never had Mewar a more able or faithful minister, and numerous autograph letters of all the princes of his time attest his talent and his worth as the oracle of the period. He retained his office during three reigns: but his skill was unable to stem the tide of Mahratta invasion, which commenced on the death of Sangram.
Anecdotes of Rāna Sangrām Singh II.
On another occasion, from lapse of memory or want of consideration, he broke the laws he had established, and alienated a village attached to the household. Each branch had its appropriate fund, whether for the kitchen, the wardrobe, the privy purse, the queens; these lands were called thua, and each had its officer, or thuadar, all of whom were made accountable for their trust to the prime minister; it was one of these he had alienated. Seated with his chiefs in the rasora, or banqueting-hall, there was no sugar forthcoming for the curds, which has a place in the dinner carte of all Rajputs, and he chid the superintendent for the omission. “Anndata” (giver of food), replied the officer, "the minister says you have given away the village set apart for sugar."—“Just,” replied the Rana, and finished his repast without further remark, and without sugar to his curds.
Another anecdote will show his inflexibility of character, and his resistance to that species of interference in state affairs which is the bane of Asiatic governments. Sangram had recently emancipated himself from the trammels of a tedious minority, during which his mother, according to custom, acted a conspicuous part in the guardianship of her son and the State. The chieftain of Dariawad had his estate confiscated: but as the Rana never punished from passion or pardoned from weakness, none dared to plead his cause, and he remained proscribed from court during two years, when he ventured a petition to the queen-mother through the Bhandarins,[[11]] for the reversion of the decree, accompanied with a note for two lakhs of rupees,[[12]] and a liberal donation to the fair mediators. It was the daily habit of the Rana to pay his respects to his mother before dinner, and on one of these visits she introduced the Ranawat’s request, and begged the restoration of the estate. It was customary, on the issue of every grant, that eight days should elapse from the mandate to the promulgation of the edict, to which eight official seals[[13]] were attached; but on the present occasion the Rana commanded the execution of the deed at once, and to have it ere he left the Rawala. On its being brought, he [412] placed it respectfully in his mother’s hands, begging her to return the note to the Ranawat; having made this sacrifice to duty, he bowed and retired. The next day he commanded dinner an hour earlier, without the usual visit to the Rawala: all were surprised, but none so much as the queen-mother—the day passed—another came—still no visit, and to a confidential message, she received a ceremonious reply. Alarmed for the loss of her son’s affections, she pondered on the cause, but could find none, except the grant—she entreated the minister’s interference; he respectfully intimated that he was interdicted from the discussion of State affairs but with his sovereign—she had recourse to other expedients, which proving alike fruitless, she became sullen, punished her damsels without cause, and refused food: Sangram still remained obdurate. She talked of a pilgrimage to the Ganges, and befitting equipage and escort were commanded to attend her—the moment of departure was at hand, and yet he would not see her. She repaired by Amber on her route to Mathura, to worship the Apollo of Vraj,[[14]] when the great Raja Jai Singh (married to the Rana’s sister)[[15]] advanced, and conducted her to his new city of Jaipur, and to evince his respect “put his shoulder to the travelling litter or palki,” and promised to return with her and be a suppliant to his brother-in-law for the restoration of his regard. She made a tour of the sacred places, and on return accepted the escort of the Prince of Amber. The laws of hospitality amongst the Rajputs are rigid: the Rana could not refuse to his guest the request for which he had left his capital: but averse to owing reconciliation to external intercession, and having done enough for the suppression of intrigue, he advanced to meet the cortège when within one march of Udaipur, as if to receive the Amber prince; but proceeding direct to his [413] mother’s tents, he asked her blessing, and having escorted her to the palace, returned to greet and conduct his brother prince; all the allusion he made to the subject was in the simple but pithy expression, “family quarrels should be kept in the family.”
Another anecdote shows him as the vigilant shepherd watching over the safety of his flock. As he sat down to dinner, tidings arrived of an invasion of the Malwa Pathans, who had rifled several villages at Mandasor, carrying the inhabitants into captivity. Pushing the platter from him, he ordered his armour, and the nakkara to beat the assemblage of his chieftains. With all speed a gallant band formed on the terrace below, but they prevailed on the Rana to leave the punishment of the desultory aggression to them, as unworthy of his personal interference. They departed: several hours after, the chief of Kanor arrived, having left a sick-bed, and with a tertian come in obedience to his sovereign’s summons. Vain was his prince’s dissuasion to keep him back, and he joined the band as they came up with the invaders. The foe was defeated and put to flight, but the sick chieftain fell in the charge, and his son was severely wounded by his side. On the young chief repairing to court he was honoured with a bira[[16]] from the Rana’s own hand, a distinction which he held to be an ample reward for his wounds, and testimonial of the worth of his father. The existence of such sentiments are the strongest tests of character.
On another occasion, some parasite had insinuated suspicions against the chief of the nobles, the Rawat of Salumbar, who had just returned victorious in action with the royal forces at Malwa, and had asked permission to visit his family on his way to court. The Rana spurned the suspicion, and to show his reliance on the chief, he dispatched a messenger for Salumbar to wait his arrival and summon him to the presence. He had reached his domain, given leave to his vassals as they passed their respective abodes, dismounted, and reached the door of the Rawala, when the herald called aloud, “The Rana salutes you, Rawatji, and commands this letter.” With his hand on the door where his wife and children awaited him, he demanded his horse, and simply leaving his ‘duty for his mother,’ he [414] mounted, with half a dozen attendants, nor loosed the rein until he reached the capital. It was midnight; his house empty; no servants; no dinner; but his sovereign had foreseen and provided, and when his arrival was announced, provender for his cattle, and vessels of provision prepared in the royal kitchen, were immediately sent to his abode. Next morning Salumbar attended the court. The Rana was unusually gracious, and not only presented him with the usual tokens of regard, a horse and jewels, but moreover a grant of land. With surprise he asked what service he had performed to merit such distinction, and from a sentiment becoming the descendant of Chonda solemnly refused to accept it; observing, that even if he had lost his head, the reward was excessive; but if his prince would admit of his preferring a request, it would be, that in remembrance of his sovereign’s favour, when he, or his, in after times, should on the summons come from their estate to the capital, the same number of dishes from the royal kitchen should be sent to his abode: it was granted, and to this day his descendants enjoy the distinction. These anecdotes paint the character of Sangram far more forcibly than any laboured effort. His reign was as honourable to himself as it was beneficial to his country, in whose defence he had fought eighteen actions; but though his policy was too circumscribed, and his country would have benefited more by a surrender of some of those antique prejudices which kept her back in the general scramble for portions of the dilapidated monarchy of the Moguls, yet he was respected abroad, as he was beloved by his subjects, of whose welfare he was ever watchful, and to whose wants ever indulgent. Rana Sangram was the last prince who upheld the dignity of the gaddi of Bappa Rawal; with his death commenced Mahratta ascendancy, and with this we shall open the reign of his son and successor.
Rāna Jagat Singh II., A.D. 1734-51. Difficulties of Rājput Combination.
League of Nizamu-l-mulk with Rājputs and Marāthas.
Marātha Raids. The Campaign of Nādir Shāh.
King over the kings of the world
Is Nadir, king of kings, and lord of the period.