CHAPTER 12
Rāja Rām Singh, A.D. 1750-52.
The politic Bakhta, hearing of the advance of the chief noble of Maru on the border of his territory, left Nagor, and though it was midnight, advanced to welcome him. The old chief was asleep; Bakhta forbade his being disturbed, and placed himself quietly beside his pallet. As he opened his eyes, he called as usual for his pipe (hukka), when the attendant pointing to the prince, the old chief scrambled up. Sleep had cooled his rage, and the full force of his position rushed upon him; but seeing there was now no retreat, that the Rubicon was crossed, “Well, there is my head,” said he; “now it is yours.” The bard, who was present at the interview, was sounded by being requested to bring the chief’s wife and family from [117] Awa to Nagor; and he gave his assent in a manner characteristic of his profession: “farewell to the gate of Jodhpur,” alluding to the station of the bard. The prince immediately replied, “there was no difference between the gate of Jodhpur and Nagor; and that while he had a cake of bajra he would divide it with the bard.”
Civil War between Rām Singh and Bakht Singh.
Accession of Bakht Singh, A.D. 1752-53.
“The flower, O bee, whose aroma regaled you, has been assailed by the blast; not a leaf of the rose-tree is left; why longer cling to the thorns?” [118]
The reply was in character: “In this hope does the bee cling to the denuded rose-tree; that spring may return, and fresh flowers bud forth.”[[5]]
Bakhta, to his honour, approved the fidelity which rejected his overtures.
Intervention of Mahādaji Sindhia.
Bakht Singh Poisoned.
Repression of Islām.
Rājput Morals compared with those of Europe in the Middle Ages.
The reader would also be wrong if he leaped to the conclusion that the bardic chronicler passed no judgment on the princely criminal. His “empoisoned stanzas” (vishwa sloka), transmitted to posterity by the mouth of the peasant and the prince, attest the reverse. One couplet has been recorded, stigmatizing Bakhta for the murder of his father; there is another of the chief bard, improvised while his prince Abhai Singh and Jai Singh of Amber were passing the period devoted [120] to religious rites at the sacred lake of Pushkar. These ceremonies never stood in the way of festivity; and one evening, while these princes and their vassals were in the height of merriment, the bard was desired to contribute to it by some extemporaneous effusion. He rose, and vociferated in the ears of the horror-struck assembly the following quatrain:—
Jodhāno Āmber ē
Donon thāp uthāp;
Kuram māryo dīkro,
Kāmdhaj māryo bāp.
“[The princes of] Jodhpur and Amber can dethrone the enthroned. But the Kurma[[9]] slew his son; the Kamdhaj[[10]] murdered his father.”
The words of the poetic seer sank into the minds of his hearers, and passed from mouth to mouth. They were probably the severest vengeance either prince experienced in this world, and will continue to circulate down to the latest posterity. It was the effusion of the same undaunted Karna, who led the charge with his prince against the troops of Amber.
The Curse of a Sati.
[1]. The Deora of Sirohi is a branch of the Chauhans, one of the four Agnikulas, a race sprung from fire. See Vol. I. p. [112].
[2]. The person who summons the nobles by beat of the state nakkara, or ‘great kettledrum.’
[3]. [Mūndwa, about 90 miles N.E. of Jodhpur city.]
[5]. That beautiful simile of Ossian, or of Macpherson, borrowed from the canticles of the Royal Bard of Jerusalem, will be brought to mind in the reply of the Purohit—“I was a lovely tree in thy presence, Oscar, with all my branches around me,” etc.
[6]. [Mahādāji Sindhia used the title of Patel or village headman to mark his assumed deference to the Peshwa (Grant Duff 212).]
[7]. Sang is a lance about ten feet long, covered with plates of iron about four feet above the spike. The sirohi is the sword made at the city, whence its name, and famous for its temper.
[9]. Kurma or Kachhua (the tribe of the princes of Amber) slew his son, Sheo Singh.
[10]. Kamdhaj, it must be remembered, is a titular appellation of the Rathor kings, which they brought from Kanauj.
[12]. Ibid.