CHAPTER 17

Rāna Bhīm Singh, A.D. 1778-1828.

Feud of Chondāwats and Saktāwats.

Sangram Singh, a junior branch of the Saktawats, destined to play a conspicuous part in the future events of Mewar, was then rising into notice, and had just completed a feud with his rival the Purawat, whose abode, Lawa,[[3]] he had carried by escalade; and now, determined to make a diversion in favour of his chief, he invaded the estate of Kurabar, engaged against Bhindar, and was driving off the cattle, when Salim Singh the heir of Kurabar intercepted his retreat, and an action ensued in which Salim[[4]] was slain by the lance of Sangram. The afflicted father, on hearing the fate of his son, ‘threw the turban off his head,’ swearing never to replace it till he had tasted revenge. Feigning a misunderstanding with his own party he withdrew from the siege, taking the road to his estate, but suddenly abandoned it for Sheogarh, the residence of Lalji the father of Sangram. The castle of Sheogarh, placed amidst the mountains and deep forests of Chappan, was from its difficulty of access deemed secure against surprise; and here Sangram had placed the females and children of his family. To this point Arjun directed his revenge, and found Sheogarh destitute of defenders save the aged chief; but though seventy summers had whitened his head, he bravely met the storm, and fell in opposing the foe; when the children of Sangram were dragged [441] out and inhumanly butchered, and the widow[[5]] of Lalji ascended the pyre. This barbarity aggravated the hostility which separated the clans, and together with the minority of their prince and the yearly aggressions of the Mahrattas, accelerated the ruin of the country. But Bhim Singh, the Chondawat leader, was governed by insufferable vanity, and not only failed in respect to his prince, but offended the queen regent. He parcelled out the crown domain from Chitor to Udaipur amongst the Sindi bands, and whilst his sovereign was obliged to borrow money to defray his marriage at Idar, this ungrateful noble had the audacity to disburse upwards of £100,000 on the marriage of his own daughter. Such conduct determined the royal mother to supplant the Chondawats, and calling in the Saktawats to her aid, she invested with power the chiefs of Bhindar and Lawa. Aware, however, that their isolated authority was insufficient to withstand their rivals, they looked abroad for support, and made an overture to Zalim Singh of Kotah, whose political and personal resentments to the Chondawats, as well as his connexion by marriage with their opponents, made him readily listen to it. With his friend the Mahratta, Lalaji Belal, he joined the Saktawats with a body of 10,000 men. It was determined to sacrifice the Salumbar chief, who took post in the ancient capital of Chitor, where the garrison was composed chiefly of Sindis, thus effacing his claim to his prince’s gratitude, whom he defied, while the pretender still had a party in the other principal fortress, Kumbhalmer.

MAHĀRĀJA BHĪM SINGH, PRINCE OF UDAIPUR.
To face page 512.

Battle of Lālsot, May 1787.

Defeat of the Rājputs. Murder of Somji.

Aid sought from Sindhia.

Negotiations by Zālim Singh.

The restriction of the Rana’s power was the cloak under which he disguised all his operations, and it might have been well for the country had his plans succeeded to their full extent. To re-establish the Rana’s authority, and to pay the charges of the reduction of Chitor, he determined that the rebels chiefly should furnish the means, and that from them and the fiscal lands, mostly in their hands, sixty-four lakhs should be levied, of which three-fifths should be appropriated to Sindhia, and the remainder to replenish the Rana’s treasury. Preliminaries being thus arranged, Zalim was furnished with a strong corps under Ambaji Inglia; while Sindhia followed, hanging on the Marwar frontier, to realize the contributions of that State. Zalim Singh and Ambaji moved towards Chitor, levying from the estates of those obnoxious to Zalim’s views. Hamirgarh, whose chief, Dhiraj Singh, a man of talent and courage, was the principal adviser of Bhim Singh, the Salumbar chief, was besieged, and stood several assaults during six weeks’ vigorous operations, when the destruction of the springs of the wells from the concussion of the guns compelled its surrender, and the estate was sequestrated. The force continued their progress, and after a trifling altercation at Basai, a Chondawat fief, also taken, they took up a position at Chitor, and were soon after joined by the main body under Sindhia.

Zālim Singh and Sindhia at Udaipur.

Sindhia’s Instructions to Ambaji.

A schedule (pandhri)[[17]] for the twenty lakhs stipulated was made and levied; twelve from the Chondawat estates and eight from the Saktawats; and the sum of sixty lakhs was awarded, besides the expense of Ambaji’s army, when the other specified objects should be attained. Within two years the pretender was expelled Kumbhalmer, Jahazpur was recovered from a rebellious Ranawat, and the crown-lands[[18]] were redeemed from the nobles; the personal domain of the Rana, agricultural and commercial, still realized nearly fifty lakhs of rupees. After these services, though Godwar was still unredeemed, the Bundi feud unappeased, and the lands mortgaged to the Mahrattas were not restored, Ambaji assumed the title of Subahdar of Mewar, and identified himself with the parties of the day. Yet so long as he personally upheld the interests of the Rana, his memory is done justice to, notwithstanding he never conformed to the strict letter of his engagements. The Rana’s ministers, fearing lest their brother’s fate should be theirs in the event of the Chondawats again attaining power, and deeming their own and their sovereign’s security dependent on Ambaji’s presence, made a subsidiary engagement with him, and lands to the amount of 75,000 rupees monthly, or eight lakhs annually, were appropriated for his force; but so completely were the resources of the [449] country diverted from their honest use, that when, in S. 1851, a marriage was negotiated between the Rana’s sister and the prince of Jaipur, the Rana was obliged to borrow £50,000 from the Mahratta commander to purchase the nuptial presents. The following year was marked by a triple event—the death of the queen-mother, the birth of a son and heir to the Rana, and the bursting of the embankment of the lake, which swept away a third of the city and a third of its inhabitants. Superstition attributed this catastrophe to the Rana’s impiety, in establishing a new festival[[19]] to Gauri, the Isis of Rajasthan.

Anarchy in Mewār.

Death of Mahādaji Sindhia, January 12, 1794.

Contest of Ambaji and Lakwa.

George Thomas.

Pillage in Mewār.

Daulat Rāo Sindhia reduces Mewār.

Lakwa Dāda Marātha Viceroy.

Holkar defeated at Indore. Plunder of Nāthdwāra: image removed.

The Inroad of Holkar.

Mewār Quarrels.

Holkar plunders Udaipur.

Sindhia and Holkar in Mewār.

Holkar saves Mewār from Sindhia.

Holkar protects Mewār Interests.

The Tragedy of Krishna Kunwāri.

Krishna Kunwari (the Virgin Krishna) was the name of the lovely object, the rivalry for whose hand assembled under the banners of her suitors (Jagat Singh of Jaipur and Raja Man of Marwar), not only their native chivalry, but all the predatory powers of India; and who, like Helen of old, involved in destruction her own and the rival houses. Sindhia having been denied a pecuniary demand by Jaipur, not only opposed the nuptials, but aided the claims of Raja Man, by demanding of the Rana the dismissal of the Jaipur embassy: which being refused, he advanced his brigades and batteries, and after a fruitless resistance, in which the Jaipur troops joined, forced the pass, threw a corps of eight thousand men into the valley, and following in person, encamped within cannon-range of the city. The Rana had now no alternative but to dismiss the nuptial cortège, and agree to whatever was demanded. Sindhia remained a month in the valley, during which an interview took place between him and the Rana at the shrine of Eklinga [462].[[48]]

Battle of Parbatsar. Defeat of the Mārwār Forces.

Nawāb Amīr Khān.

Thus finished the under-plot; but another and more noble victim was demanded before discomfited ambition could repose, or the curtain drop on this eventful drama. Neither party would relinquish his claim to the fair object of the war; and the torch of discord could be extinguished only in her blood. To the same ferocious Khan is attributed the unhallowed suggestion, as well as its compulsory execution. The scene was now changed from the desert castle of Jodha to the smiling valley of Udaipur, soon to be filled with funereal lamentation.

The Tragedy of Krishna Kunwāri.

The rapacious and bloodthirsty Pathan, covered with infamy, repaired to Udaipur, where he was joined by the pliant and subtle Ajit. Meek in his demeanour, unostentatious in his habits; despising honours, yet covetous of power,—religion, which he followed with the zeal of an ascetic, if it did not serve as a cloak, was at least no hindrance to an immeasurable ambition, in the attainment of which he would have sacrificed all but himself. When the Pathan revealed his design, that either the princess should wed Raja Man, or by her death seal the peace of Rajwara, whatever arguments were used to point the alternative, the Rana was made to see no choice between consigning his beloved child to the Rathor prince, or witnessing the effects of a more extended dishonour from the vengeance of the Pathan, and the storm of his palace by his licentious adherents—the fiat passed that Krishna Kunwari should die.

But the deed was left for women to accomplish—the hand of man refused it. The Rawala[[51]] of an Eastern prince is a world within itself; it is the labyrinth containing the strings that move the puppets which alarm mankind. Here intrigue sits enthroned, and hence its influence radiates to the world, always at a loss to trace effects to their causes. Maharaja Daulat Singh,[[52]] descended four generations ago from one common ancestor with the Rana, was first sounded ‘to save the honour of Udaipur’; but, horror-struck, he exclaimed, “Accursed the tongue that commands it! Dust on my allegiance, if thus to be preserved!” The Maharaja Jawandas, a natural brother, was then called upon; the dire necessity was explained, and it was urged that no common hand could be armed for the purpose. He accepted the poniard, but when in youthful loveliness Krishna appeared before him, the dagger fell from his hand, and he returned more wretched than the victim. The fatal purpose thus revealed, the shrieks of the frantic mother reverberated through the palace, as she implored mercy, or execrated the murderers of her child, who alone was resigned to her fate. But death was arrested, not averted [465]. To use the phrase of the narrator, "she was excused the steel—the cup was prepared,"—and prepared by female hands! As the messenger presented it in the name of her father, she bowed and drank it, sending up a prayer for his life and prosperity. The raving mother poured imprecations on his head, while the lovely victim, who shed not a tear, thus endeavoured to console her: “Why afflict yourself, my mother, at this shortening of the sorrows of life? I fear not to die! Am I not your daughter? Why should I fear death? We are marked out for sacrifice[[53]] from our birth; we scarcely enter the world but to be sent out again; let me thank my father that I have lived so long!”[[54]] Thus she conversed till the nauseating draught refused to assimilate with her blood. Again the bitter potion was prepared. She drained it off, and again it was rejected; but, as if to try the extreme of human fortitude, a third was administered; and, for the third time, Nature refused to aid the horrid purpose. It seemed as if the fabled charm, which guarded the life of the founder of her race,[[55]] was inherited by the Virgin Krishna. But the blood-hounds, the Pathan and Ajit, were impatient till their victim was at rest; and cruelty, as if gathering strength from defeat, made another and a fatal attempt. A powerful opiate was presented—the kusumbha draught.[[56]] She received it with a smile, wished the scene over, and drank it. The desires [466] of barbarity were accomplished. ‘She slept!’[[57]] a sleep from which she never awoke.

The wretched mother did not long survive her child; nature was exhausted in the ravings of despair; she refused food; and her remains in a few days followed those of her daughter to the funeral pyre.

Even the ferocious Khan, when the instrument of his infamy, Ajit, reported the issue, received him with contempt, and spurned him from his presence, tauntingly asking “if this were the boasted Rajput valour?” But the wily traitor had to encounter language far more bitter from his political adversary, whom he detested. Sangram Saktawat reached the capital only four days after the catastrophe—a man in every respect the reverse of Ajit; audaciously brave, he neither feared the frown of his sovereign nor the sword of his enemy. Without introduction he rushed into the presence, where he found seated the traitor Ajit. “Oh dastard! who hast thrown dust on the Sesodia race, whose blood which has flowed in purity through a hundred ages has now been defiled! this sin will check its course for ever; a blot so foul in our annals that no Sesodia[[58]] will ever again hold up his head! A sin to which no punishment were equal. But the end of our race is approaching! The line of Bappa Rawal is at an end! Heaven has ordained this, a signal of our destruction.” The Rana hid his face with his hands, when turning to Ajit, he exclaimed, "Thou stain on the Sesodia race, thou impure of Rajput blood, dust be on thy head as thou hast covered us all with shame. May you die childless, and your name die with you![[59]] Why this indecent haste? Had the Pathan stormed the city? Had he attempted to violate the sanctity of the Rawala? And though he had, could you not die as Rajputs, like your ancestors? Was it thus they gained a name? Was it thus our race became renowned—thus they opposed the might of kings? Have you forgotten the Sakhas of Chitor? But whom do I address—not Rajputs? Had the honour of your females been endangered, had you sacrificed them all and rushed sword in hand on the enemy, your name would have lived, and the Almighty would have secured the seed of Bappa Rawal. But to owe preservation [467] to this unhallowed deed! You did not even await the threatened danger. Fear seems to have deprived you of every faculty, or you might have spared the blood of Sriji,[[60]] and if you did not scorn to owe your safety to deception, might have substituted some less noble victim! But the end of our race approaches!"

Fate of the Murderers.

The elder brother of Javana[[64]] died two years ago. Had he lived he would have been Amra the Third. With regard to Ajit, the curse has been fully accomplished. Scarcely a month after, his wife and two sons were numbered with the dead; and the hoary traitor has since been wandering from shrine to shrine, performing penance and alms in expiation of his sins, yet unable to fling from him ambition; and with his beads in one hand, Rama! Rama! ever on his tongue, and subdued passion in his looks, his heart is deceitful as ever. Enough of him: let us exclaim with Sangram, “Dust on his head,”[[65]] which all the waters of the Ganges could not purify from the blood of the virgin Krishna, but

rather would the multitudinous sea incarnadine [468].

Amīr Khan rewarded by the British.

The mind sickens at the contemplation of these unvarying scenes of atrocity; but this unhappy State had yet to pass through two more lustres of aggravated sufferings (to which the author of these annals was an eye-witness) before their [469] termination, upon the alliance of Mewar with Britain. From the period of the forcing of the passes, the dismissal of the Jaipur embassy by Sindhia, and the murder of Krishna Kunwari, the embassy of Britain was in the train of the Mahratta leader, a witness of the evils described—a most painful predicament—when the hand was stretched out for succour in vain, and the British flag waved in the centre of desolation, unable to afford protection. But this day of humiliation is past, thanks to the predatory hordes who goaded us on to their destruction; although the work was incomplete, a nucleus being imprudently left in Sindhia for the scattered particles again to form.

Ruin of Mewār by the Marāthas.

Sindhia’s father-in-law, when expelled that chief’s camp, according to the treaty, enjoyed the ephemeral dignity of minister to the Rana, when he abstracted the most valuable records, especially those of the revenue [470].

Kumbhalmer was obtained by the minister Satidas from Jaswant Rao Bhao for seventy thousand rupees, for which assignments were given on this district, of which he retained possession. Amir Khan in A.D. 1809 led his myrmidons to the capital, threatening the demolition of the temple of Eklinga if refused a contribution of eleven lakhs of rupees. Nine were agreed to, but which by no effort could be raised, upon which the Rana’s envoys were treated with indignity, and Kishandas[[68]] wounded. The passes were forced, Amir Khan entering by Debari, and his coadjutor and son-in-law, the notorious Jamshid, by the Chirwa, which made but a feeble resistance. The ruffian Pathans were billeted on the city, subjecting the Rana to personal humiliation, and Jamshid[[69]] left with his licentious Rohillas in the capital. The traces of their barbarity are to be seen in its ruins. No woman could safely venture abroad, and a decent garment or turban was sufficient to attract their cupidity.

Bāpu Sindhia Sūbahdār of Mewār.

[1]. Brother of Ajit, the negotiator of the treaty with the British.

[2]. Chief of the Jagawat clan, also a branch of the Chondawats; he was killed in a battle with the Mahrattas.

[3]. It is yet held by the successor of Sangram, whose faithful services merited the grant he obtained from his prince, and it was in consequence left unmolested in the arrangement of 1817, from the knowledge of his merits.

[4]. The father of Rawat Jawan Singh, whom I found at Udaipur as military minister, acting for his grand-uncle Ajit the organ of the Chondawats, whose head, Padam Singh, was just emerging from his minority. It was absolutely necessary to get to the very root of all these feuds, when as envoy and mediator I had to settle the disputes of half a century, and make each useful to detect their joint usurpations of the crown domain.

[5]. She was the grandmother of Man Singh, a fine specimen of a Saktawat cavalier.

[6]. [Lālsot, about 40 miles south of Jaipur city. For an account of the battle see Compton, European Military Adventurers, 346 f.]

[7]. Megh Singh was the chief of Begun, and founder of that subdivision of the Chondawats called after him Meghawat, and his complexion being very dark (kala), he was called ‘Kala Megh,’ the ‘black cloud.’ His descendants were very numerous and very refractory.

[8]. A.D. 1788.

[9]. He did not recover his liberty for two years, nor till he had surrendered four of the best towns in his fief.

[10]. Father of the present Hamir Singh, the only chief with whom I was compelled to use severity; but he was incorrigible. He was celebrated for his raids in the troubles, and from his red whiskers bore with us the name of the ‘Red Riever’ of Badesar—more of him by and by.

[11]. Sheodas and Satidas, with their cousin Jaichand. They revenged their brother’s death by that of his murderer, and were both in turn slain. Such were these times! The author more than once, when resuming the Chondawat lands, and amongst them Badesar, the fief of the son of Sardar, was told to recollect the fate of Somji; the advice, however, excited only a smile; he was deemed more of a Saktawat than a Chondawat, and there was some truth in it, for he found the good actions of the former far outweigh the other, who made a boast and monopoly of their patriotism. It was a curious period in his life; the stimulus to action was too high, too constant, to think of self; and having no personal views, being influenced solely by one feeling, the prosperity of all, he despised the very idea of danger, though it was said to exist in various shapes, even in the hospitable plate put before him! But he deemed none capable of such treachery, though once he was within a few minutes’ march to the other world; but the cause, if the right one, came from his own cuisinier, or rather boulanger, whom he discharged.

[12]. See the Essay on a Feudal System.

[13]. S. 1847 (A.D. 1791).

[14]. [Count Benoit de Boigne, a Savoyard, born at Chambery, 1751: served under Mahādaji Sindhia, and won for him his battles of Pātan and Merta in 1790: defeated Holkar at Lakheri in 1793: resigned his command in 1795, and left India in the next year: died June 21, 1830 (Compton, European Military Adventurers, 15 ff.; Buckland, Dict. of Indian Biography, s.v.).]

[15]. Acquired from the actors in those scenes: the prince, his ministers, Zalim Singh and the rival chiefs have all contributed.

[16]. It was levied as follows:

SalumbarLakhs3
Deogarh”3
Singingir Gosain, their adviser”2
Kosital”1
Amet”2
Kurabar”1
Lakhs 12

[17]. [Pāndhri, Pāndharapatti, a tax on shops, artisans, traders, and persons not engaged in agriculture, levied on their persons, implements, places of work, or traffic; the same as the Mahtarafa (Wilson, Glossary, s.v.).]

[18]. Raepur Rajnagar from the Sindis; Gurla and Gadarmala from the Purawats; Hamirgarh from Sardar Singh, and Kurj Kawaria from Salumbar.

[19]. In Bhadon, the third month of the rainy season. An account of this festival will hereafter be given.

[20]. The first of these is now the manager of Prince Jawan Singh’s estates, a man of no talent; and the latter, his brother, was one of the ministers on my arrival at Udaipur. He was of invincible good humour, yet full of the spirit of intrigue, and one of the bars to returning prosperity. The cholera carried off this Falstaff of the court, not much to my sorrow.

[21]. S. 1853, A.D. 1797.

[22]. This person was nominated the chief civil minister on the author’s arrival at Udaipur, an office to which he was every way unequal. The affairs of Mewar had never prospered since the faithful Pancholis were deprived of power. Several productions of the descendants of Biharidas have fallen into my hands; their quaint mode of conveying advice may authorize their insertion here.

The Pancholis, who had performed so many services to the country, had been for some time deprived of the office of prime minister, which was disposed of as it suited the views of the factious nobles who held power for the time being; and who bestowed it on the Mehtas, Depras, or Dhabhais. Amongst the papers of the Pancholis, several addressed to the Rana and to Agarji Mehta, the minister of the day, are valuable for the patriotic sentiments they contain, as well as for the general light they throw upon the period. In S. 1853 (A.D. 1797) Amrit Rao devised a plan to remedy the evils that oppressed the country. He inculcated the necessity of dispensing with the interference of the Saktawats and Chondawats in the affairs of government, and strengthening the hands of the civil administration by admitting the foreign chieftains to the power he proposed to deprive the former of. He proceeds in the following quaint style:

“Disease fastened on the country from the following causes, envy and party spirit. With the Turks disease was introduced; but then the prince, his ministers, and chiefs, were of one mind, and medicine was ministered and a cure effected. During Rana Jai Singh’s time the disorder returned, which his son Amra put down. He recovered the affairs of government from confusion, gave to every one his proper rank and dignity, and rendered all prosperous. But Maharana Sangram Singh put from under his wing the Chandarawat of Rampura, and thus a pinion of Mewar was broken. The calamity of Biharidas, whose son committed suicide, increased the difficulties. The arrival of the Deccanis under Bajirao, the Jaipur affair[[A]] and the defeat at Rajmahall, with the heavy expenditure thereby occasioned, augmented the disorder. Add to this in Jagat Singh’s time the enmity of the Dhabhais towards the Pancholis, which lowered their dignities at home and abroad, and since which time every man has thought himself equal to the task of government. Jagat Singh was also afflicted by the rebellious conduct of his son Partap, when Shyama Solanki and several other chiefs were treacherously cut off. Since which time the minds of the nobles have never been loyal, but black and not to be trusted. Again, on the accession of Partap, Maharaja Nathji allowed his thoughts to aspire, from which all his kin suffered. Hence animosities, doubts, and deceits, arose on all sides. Add to this the haughty proceeding of Amra Chand now in office; and besides the strife of the Pancholis with each other, their enmity to the Depras. Hence parties were formed which completely destroyed the credit of all. Yet, notwithstanding, they abated none of their strife, which was the acme to the disease. The feud between Kuman Singh and the Saktawats for the possession of Hintha, aggravated the distresses. The treacherous murder of Maharaja Nathji, and the consequent disgust and retreat of Jaswant Singh of Deogarh; the setting up the impostor Ratna Singh and Jhala Raghudeo’s struggle for office, with Amra Chand’s entertaining the mercenaries of Sind, brought it to a crisis. The negligence arising out of luxury, and the intrigues of the Dhabhais of Rana Arsi, made it spread so as to defeat all attempt at cure. In S. 1829, on the treacherous murder of the Rana by the Bundi prince, and the accession of the minor Hamir, every one set up his own authority, so that there was not even the semblance of government. And now you (to the Rana), listening to the advice of Bhim Singh (Salumbar), and his brother, Arjun, have taken foreigners[[B]] into pay, and thus riveted all the former errors. You and Sri Baiji Raj (the royal mother), putting confidence in foreigners and Deccanis, have rendered the disease contagious; besides, your mind is gone. What can be done? Medicine may yet be had. Let us unite and struggle to restore the duties of the minister and we may conquer, or at least check its progress. If now neglected, it will hereafter be beyond human power. The Deccanis are the great sore. Let us settle their accounts, and at all events get rid of them, or we lose the land for ever. At this time there are treaties and engagements in every corner. I have touched on every subject. Forgive whatever is improper. Let us look the future in the face, and let chiefs, ministers, and all unite. With the welfare of the country all will be well. But this is a disease which, if not now conquered, will conquer us.”

A second paper as follows:

"The disease of the country is to be considered and treated as a remittent.

"Amra Singh cured it and laid a complete system of government and justice.

"In Sangram’s time it once more gained ground.

"In Jagat Singh’s time the seed was thrown into the ground thus obtained.

"In Partap’s time it sprung up.

"In Raj Singh’s time it bore fruit.

"In Rana Arsi’s time it was ripe.

"In Hamir’s time it was distributed, and all have had a share.

“And you, Bhim Singh (the present Rana), have eaten plentifully thereof. Its virtues and flavour you are acquainted with, and so likewise is the country; and if you take no medicine you will assuredly suffer much pain, and both at home and abroad you will be lightly thought of. Be not therefore negligent, or faith and land will depart from you.”

A third paper to Agarji Mehta (then minister):

"If the milk is curdled it does not signify. Where there is sense butter may yet be extracted; and if the butter-milk (chhachh) is thrown away it matters not. But if the milk be curdled and black it will require wisdom to restore its purity. This wisdom is now wanted. The foreigners are the black in the curdled milk of Mewar. At all hazards remove them. Trust to them and the land is lost.

"In moonlight what occasion for a blue light? (Chandra jot).[[C]]

"Who looks to the false coin of the juggler?

"Do not credit him who tells you he will make a pigeon out of a feather.

“Abroad it is said there is no wisdom left in Mewar, which is a disgrace to her reputation.”

[A]. The struggle to place the Rana’s nephew, Madho Singh, on the throne of Jaipur.

[B]. The Pancholi must allude to the Mahratta subsidiary force under Ambaji.

[C]. Literally, a ‘moonlight.’ The particular kind of firework which we call a ‘blue light.’

[23]. [Mahādaji Sindhia, commonly and erroneously called Mādhava Rāo, died near Poona, January 12, 1794. See his life by H. G. Keene, ‘Rulers of India’ series; Grant Duff, Hist. of Mahrattas, 343 ff.; W. Franklin, Hist. of Shah-Aulum, 119 ff.]

[24]. There are three classes of Mahratta Brahmans: Shenvi, Prabhu, and Mahratta. Of the first was Lakwa, Balabha Tantia, Jiwa Dada, Sivaji Nana, Lalaji Pandit, and Jaswant Rao Bhao, men who held the mortgaged lands of Mewar. [There are four groups of Marātha Brāhmans: Konkanasthas, Deshasthas, Karhādas, and Kanvas. The Prabhus are not Brāhmans, but the writer caste, like the Kāyasths of Hindustān (J. Wilson, Indian Caste, 1877, ii. 17 ff.). The word Shenvi is a corruption of chhiyānavē, ‘ninety-six,’ from the supposed number of their sections.]

[25]. I knew him well. He stood six feet six inches, and was bulky in proportion. His limbs rivalled those of the Hercules Farnese. His father was nearly seven feet, and died at the early age of twenty-two, in a vain attempt to keep down, by regimen and medicine, his enormous bulk.

[26]. [This is perhaps Captain Butterfield, who served in Sindhia’s force under Colonel Sutherland. He behaved gallantly in action against Lakwa Dāda, for which he received a flattering letter from Perron: no further mention of him has been traced (Compton, Military Adventurers, 344).]

[27]. [For Colonel Robert Sutherland, known to natives as ‘Sutlej Sahib,’ see Compton, 410 ff.]

[28]. [For the remarkable career of George Thomas, who nearly succeeded in forming a kingdom of his own on the ruins of the Empire in N. India, see Compton, 109 f.; W. Franklin, Military Memoirs of Mr. G. Thomas, 1803.]

[29]. Both camps were on the right bank of the Banas: Lakwa’s at Amli, about ten miles south of Shahpura, and Nana’s at Kadera, between these towns.

[30]. Lakwa at this time [S. 1856, A.D. 1799] put the Shahpura Raja in possession of the important fortress and district of Jahazpur, which, although the Rana consented to it, covertly receiving from the Raja two lakhs of rupees, disgusted the nobles with Lakwa.

[31]. Balabha Tantia and Bakhshu Narayan Rao were Sindhia’s ministers at this period, of the same tribe (the Shenvi) as Lakwa.

[32]. [October 14, 1801 (Grant Duff 555).]

[33]. [Krishna.]

[34]. Five-and-twenty [about thirty] miles north of Udaipur. On this subject we shall have much to say hereafter.

[35]. S. 1859 (A.D. 1803).

[36]. [Hyder Young Hearsey (1782-3-1840), son of Captain Harry Thomas Hearsey by a Jāt lady, served Sindhia under Perron, and also George Thomas, joined Lord Lake at Dīg in 1804: taken prisoner in the Nepāl war of 1815: present at the siege of Bharatpur: died near Budāun (Buckland, Dict. Indian Biography, s.v.).]

[37]. In S. 1860 (A.D. 1804).

[38]. At this juncture an officer of Holkar’s, Harnath Chela, on passing through Bansain, had some camels carried off by the Bhils of the Satola estate. Harnath summoned Gulab Singh Chondawat, who came with eight of his relatives, when he was told he should be detained till the cattle were restored; and in the morning, as the Mahratta mounted his elephant, he commanded the Raghaut chieftain to be seized. Gulab drew his sword and made at Harnath, but his sword broke in the howda, when he plunged his dagger into the elephant; but at length he and all his relations, who nobly plied their swords on the Mahrattas, were cut to pieces.

[39]. [For a graphic account of these camps see T. D. Broughton, Letters written in a Mahratta Camp during the year 1809, ed. 1892.]

[40]. The Rana of Gohad and Gwalior, the Khichi chiefs of Raghugarh and Bahadurgarh, and the Nawab of Bhopal, made common cause with us in Warren Hastings’ time. The first three possess not a shadow of independence; the last fortunately formed a link in our own policy, and Lord Hastings, in 1818, repaid with liberal interest the services rendered to the government of Warren Hastings in 1782. It was in his power, with equal facility, to have rescued all the other States, and to have claimed the same measure of gratitude which Bhopal is proud to avow. But there was a fatality in the desire to maintain terms with Sindhia, whose treachery to our power was overlooked.

[41]. The author, then a subaltern, was attached to the suite of the ambassador, Mr. Græme Mercer. He left the subsidiary force at Gwalior in December 1805, and the embassy reached Sindhia’s court in the spring of 1806, then encamped amidst the ruins of Mewar.

[42]. The ministers of Sindhia were Ambaji, Bapu Chitnavis, Madhuba Huzuria, and Anaji Bhaskar.

[43]. [Baiza Bāi, widow of Daulat Rāo Sindhia, who died in 1827, was an unscrupulous, designing woman, whose intrigues at Gwalior forced her to take refuge in British territory. She returned after an interval and lived at Gwalior until her death in 1862 (IGI, xii. 424).]

[44]. That is, chief of the race from which issued the Satara sovereigns, whose minister, the Peshwa, accounted Sindhia and Holkar his feudatories.

[45]. Rangra is an epithet applied to the Rajputs, implying turbulent, from rana, ‘strife.’ [Rāngar is the title of a body of turbulent, predatory Muhammadans, who claim Rājput descent, occupying parts of the E. Panjāb and W. districts of the Ganges-Jumna Duāb. The derivation suggested is very doubtful (Crooke, Tribes and Castes, N.W.P. and Oudh, v. 227 ff.).]

[46]. [In October 1805 (Grant Duff 601).]

[47]. [Jean Baptiste de la Fontaine Filoze (1775-1840) assisted in the campaign against Thomas in 1801. In the war with the English, part of his brigade under Dupont was defeated at Assaye. He was afterwards ill-treated by Sindhia, but was reinstated. Some of his descendants are still in Sindhia’s service (Compton, European Military Adventurers, 352 ff.; Sleeman, Rambles, 115, note). He is frequently mentioned in Broughton, Letters written in a Mahratta Camp.]

[48]. To increase his importance, Sindhia invited the British envoy and suite to be present on the occasion, when the princely demeanour of the Rana and his sons was advantageously contrasted with that of the Mahratta and his suite. It was in this visit that the regal abode of this ancient race, its isles and palaces, acted with irresistible force on the cupidity of this scion of the plough, who aspired to, yet dared not seat himself in, ‘the halls of the Caesars.’ It was even surmised that his hostility to Jaipur was not so much from the refused war-contribution, as from a mortifying negative to an audacious desire to obtain the hand of this princess himself. The impression made on the author upon this occasion by the miseries and noble appearance of ‘this descendant of a hundred kings,’ was never allowed to weaken, but kindled an enthusiastic desire for the restoration of his fallen condition, which stimulated his perseverance to obtain that knowledge by which alone he might be enabled to benefit him. Then a young Sub., his hopes of success were more sanguine than wise; but he trusted to the rapid march of events, and the discordant elements by which he was surrounded, to effect the redemption of the prince from thraldom. It was a long dream—but after ten years of anxious hope, at length realized—and he had the gratification of being instrumental in snatching the family from destruction, and subsequently of raising the country to comparative prosperity.

[49]. I witnessed the commencement and the end of this drama, and have conversed with actors in all the intermediate scenes. In June 1806 the passes of Udaipur were forced; and in January 1808, when I passed through Jaipur in a solitary ramble, the fragments of this contest were scattered over its sandy plains.

[50]. [Amīr Khān, ally of the Pindāris and ancestor of the present Nawābs of Tonk. A treaty between him and the British was signed on December 19, 1817, by which his State was recognized. He died in 1834. See his Life by Basāwan Lāl, translated by Thoby Prinsep; Malcolm, Memoirs of Central India, 2nd ed. ii. 325 ff.]

[51]. Harem.

[52]. I knew him well—a plain honest man.

[53]. Alluding to the custom of infanticide—here, very rare; indeed, almost unknown.

[54]. With my mind engrossed with the scenes in which I had passed the better part of my life, I went two months after my return from Rajputana, in 1823, to York Cathedral, to attend the memorable festival of that year. The sublime recitations of Handel in ‘Jephtha’s Vow,’ the sonorous woe of Sapio’s ‘Deeper and deeper still,’ powerfully recalled the sad exit of the Rajputni; and the representation shortly after of Racine’s tragedy of ‘Iphigénie,’ with Talma as Achille, Duchesnois as Clytemnestre, and a very interesting personation of the victim daughter of Agamemnon, again served to waken the remembrance of this sacrifice. The following passage, embodying not only the sentiments, but couched in the precise language in which the ‘Virgin Krishna’ addressed her father—proving that human nature was but one mode of expression for the same feelings—I am tempted to transcribe:

... “Mon père,

Cessez de vous troubler, vous n’êtes point trahi.

Quand vous commanderez, vous serez obéi:

Ma vie est votre bien. Vous voulez le reprendre,

Vos ordres, sans détour, pouvaient se faire entendre;

D’un œil aussi content, d’un cœur aussi soumis,

Que j’acceptais l’époux que vous m’aviez promis,

Je saurai, s’il le faut, victime obéissante

Tendre au fer de Calchas une tête innocente;

Et respectant le coup par vous-même ordonné,

Vous rendre tout le sang que vous m’avez donné.”

[55]. Bappa Rawal.

[56]. The kusumbha draught is made of flowers and herbs of a cooling quality; into this an opiate was introduced.

[57]. The simple but powerful expression of the narrator.

[58]. The tribe of the Rana.

[59]. That is, without adoption even to perpetuate it.

[60]. A respectful epithet to the prince—sire.

[61]. By the same mother.

[62]. He was nearly carried off by that awful scourge, the cholera, and, singular to remark, was the first person attacked at Udaipur. I remained by his bedside during the progress of this terrible visitation, and never shall I forget his grateful exclamation of surprise, when after a salutary sleep he opened his eyes to health. Shirji Mehta, his chief adviser and manager of his estates, merry as ever, though the heir of Mewar was given over, was seized with the complaint as his master recovered—was dead and his ashes blanching on the sands of the streamlet of Ar within twelve hours! Jovial and good-humoured as he was, “we could have better spared a better man.” He was an adept in intrigue; of Ambaji’s school; and till death shall extinguish the whole of this, and better morals are born, the country will but slowly improve. [Mahārāna Jawān Singh (1828-38) succeeded on the death of his father, Bhīm Singh, on March 31, 1828. He gave himself up to debauchery, and died without issue on August 30, 1838, being succeeded by his adopted son, Sardār Singh.]

[63]. Since this work has gone to press, the author has been rejoiced to find that an heir has been born from the last marriage by a princess of Riwa of the Baghela tribe.

[64]. See genealogical descendants of Rana Jagat Singh. Appendix, No. [VIII].

[65]. This was written at Udaipur in 1820. This old intriguer then attempted to renew the past, as the organ of the Chondawats, but his scheme ended in exile to the sacred city of Benares; and there he may now be seen with his rosary on the consecrated ghat of the Ganges.

[66]. Brigadier-General Alexander Knox had the honour of dissolving these bands in the only way worthy of us. He marched his troops to take their guns and disperse their legions; and, when in order of battle, the gallant General taking out his watch, gave them half an hour to reflect, their commander Jamshid, second only in villainy to his master, deeming ‘discretion the better part of valour,’ surrendered.

[67]. There are full this number of princes holding under the British.

[68]. This veteran attended me during all these troubles, as the medium of communication with the Rana. Though leagued with the Chondawats, he was a loyal subject and good servant. I saw him expire, and was of opinion, as well as the doctor who accompanied me, that his death was caused by poison. The general burst of sorrow from hundreds collected around his house, when the event was announced, is the best encomium on his public character.

[69]. This monstrous villain (for he was a Goliath) died soon after Mewar was rescued, from a cancer in his back.

[70]. Satidas, Kishandas, and Rup Ram.

[71]. Bapu Sindhia shortly outlived his expulsion from Ajmer, and as he had to pass through Mewar in his passage to his future residence, he was hooted by the population he had plundered. While I was attending the Rana’s court, some one reporting Bapu Sindhia’s arrival at his destination, mentioned that some pieces of ordnance formerly taken from Udaipur had, after saluting him, exuded a quantity of water, which was received with the utmost gravity by the court, until I remarked they were crying because they should never again be employed in plunder: an idea which caused a little mirth.