CHAPTER 25
Leaving Udaipur.
On the 12th October, at five A.M., our trumpet sounded to horse, and we were not slow in obeying the summons; the “yellow boys” with their old native commandant looking even more cheerful than usual as we joined them. Skinner’s Horse[[3]] wear a jamah or tunic of yellow broadcloth, with scarlet turbans and cincture. Who [655] does not know that James Skinner’s men are the most orderly in the Company’s service, and that in every other qualification constituting the efficient soldier, they are second to none? On another signal which reverberated from the palace, where the drums announced that the descendant of Surya was no sluggard, we moved on through the yet silent capital towards the gate of the sun, where we found drawn up the quotas of Bhindar, Delwara, Amet, and Bansi, sent as an honorary guard by the Rana, to escort us to the frontiers. As they would have been an incumbrance to me and an inconvenience to the country, from their laxity of discipline, after chatting with their leader, during a sociable ride, I dismissed them at the pass, with my respects to the Rana and their several chieftains. We reached the camp before eight o’clock, the distance being only thirteen miles. The spot chosen (and where I afterwards built a residence) was a rising ground between the villages of Merta and Tus, sprinkled with trees, and for a space of four miles clear of the belt of forest which fringes the granite barriers of the valley. It commanded an entire view of the plains in the direction of Chitor, still covered, excepting a patch of cultivation here and there, with jungle. The tiger-mount, its preserves of game, and the mouldering hunting-seats of the Rana and his chieftains, were three miles to the north; to the south, a mile distant, we had the Berach River, abounding in trout; and the noble lake whence it issues, called after its founder the Udai Sagar, was not more than three to the west. For several reasons it was deemed advisable to choose a spot out of the valley; the health of the party, though not an unimportant, was not a principal motive for choosing such a distance from the court. The wretchedness in which we found it rendered a certain degree of interference requisite, and it was necessary that they should shake this off, in order to preserve their independence. It was dreaded lest the aid requested by the Rana, from the peculiar circumstances on our first going amongst them, might be construed as a precedent for the intrusion of advice on after occasions. The distance between the court and the agent of the British Government was calculated to diminish this impression, and obliged them also to trust to their own resources, after the machine was once set in motion. On the heights of Tus our tents were pitched, the escort paraded, and St. George’s flag displayed. Here camels, almost wild, were fitted for the first time with the pack-saddle, lamenting in discordant gutturals the [656] hardship of their fate, though luckily ignorant of the difference between grazing whither they listed in the happy valley, and carrying a load in “the region of death,” where they would only find the thorny mimosa or prickly phog[[4]] to satisfy their hunger.
Pallāna.
Rām Singh and the Rāja of Narsinghgarh. The Oswāl Mahājans.
Mānikchand.
The Rāja of Narsinghgarh.
It was unfortunate for these ancient races, that on the fortunate occasion presented in 1817-18, when both Sindhia and Holkar aimed at the overthrow of our power (the one treacherously cloaking his views, the other disclosing them in the field), our policy did not readily grasp it, to rescue all these States from ruin and dependence. Unfortunately, their peculiar history was little known, or it would have been easily perceived that they presented the exact materials we required between us and the entire occupation of the country. But there was then a strong notion afloat of a species of balance of power, and it was imagined that these demoralized and often humiliated Mahrattas were the fittest materials to throw into the scale—against I know not what, except ourselves: for assuredly the day of our reverses will be a jubilee to them, and will level every spear that they can bring against our existence. They would merit contempt if they acted [661] otherwise. Can they cease to remember that the orange flag which waved in triumph from the Sutlej to the Kistna has been replaced by the cross of St. George? But the snake which flutters in tortuous folds thereon, fitting crest for the wily Mahratta, is only scathed, and may yet call forth the lance of the red cross knight to give the coup de grace.[[11]] Let it then be remembered that, both as regards good policy and justice, we owe to these States—independence.
To what does our interference with Umatwara tend, but to realize the tribute of Holkar; to fix a millstone round their necks, which, notwithstanding the comparative happiness they enjoy, will keep them always repining, and to secure which will make our interference eternal. Had a due advantage been taken of the hostilities in 1817, it might have obviated these evils by sending the predatory sovereign of half a century’s duration to a more restricted sphere. It may be said that it is easy to devise plans years after the events which immediately called for them: these not only were mine at the time, but were suggested to the proper authorities; and I am still disposed to think my views correct.
After chatting some time with the two chiefs described, and presenting them with itr and pan,[[12]] they took leave.
Nāthdwāra.—October 14.—Marched at daybreak, and found the route almost impracticable for camels, from the swampy nature of the soil. The country is much broken with irregular low ridges of micaceous schist, in the shape of a chine or hog’s back, the crest of which has throughout all its length a vein of quartz piercing the slate, and resembling a back-bone; the direction of these veins is uniformly N.N.E., and the inclination about 75° to the east. Crossed the Nathdwara ridge, about four hundred feet in height, and, like the hills encircling the valley, composed of a brown granite intersected with protruding veins of quartz, incumbent on blue compact slate. The ascent was a mile and a half east of the town, and on the summit, which is table-land, there are two small lakes, whence water-courses conduct streams on each side of the road to supply the temple and the town. There are noble trees planted on either side of these rivulets, forming a delightful shade. As we passed through the town to our encampment on the [662] opposite side of the Banas River, the inhabitants crowded the streets, shouting their grateful acknowledgments to the power which had redeemed the sacred precincts of Kanhaiya from the scenes of turpitude amidst which they had grown up. They were all looking forward with much pleasure to the approaching festival of Annakuta.
October 15.—Halted to allow the baggage to join, which, partly from the swamps and partly from the intractable temper of the cattle, we have not seen since we parted company at Merta. Received a visit from the Mukhya of the temple, accompanied by a pilgrim in the person of a rich banker of Surat. A splendid quilted cloak of gold brocade, a blue scarf with a deep border of gold, and an embroidered band for the head, were brought to me as the gift of the god through his high-priest, in testimony of my zeal. I was also honoured with a tray of the sacred food, which consisted of all the dried fruits, spices, and aromatics of the East. In the evening I had a portion of the afternoon repast, consisting of a preparation of milk; but the days of simplicity are gone, and the Apollo of Vraj has his curds adulterated with rose-water and amber. Perhaps, with the exception of Lodi, where is fabricated the far-famed Parmesan, whose pastures maintain forty thousand kine, there is no other place known which possesses more than the city of the Hindu Apollo, though but a tenth of that of Lodi. But from the four thousand cows, the expenditure of milk and butter for the votaries of Kanhaiya may be judged. I was entertained with the opinions of the old banker on the miraculous and oracular power of the god of Nathdwara. He had just been permitted to prostrate himself before the car which conveyed the deity from the Yamuna, and held forth on the impiety of the age, in withholding the transmission of the miraculous wheels from heaven, which in former days came once in six months. The most devout alone are permitted to worship the chariot of Kanhaiya. The garments which decorate his representative are changed several times a day, to imitate the different stages of his existence, from the youthful Bala to the conqueror of Kansa; or, as the Surat devotee said in broken English, “Oh, sir, he be much great god; he first of all; and he change from de balak, or child, to de fierce chief, with de bow and arrow a hees hands”; while the old Mukhya, whose office it is to perambulate the whole continent of India as one of the couriers of Kanhaiya, lifted up his eyes as he ejaculated, “Sri Krishna! Sri Krishna!” I gave him a paper [663] addressed to all officers of the British Government who might pass through the lands of the church, recommending the protection of the peacocks and pipal trees, and to forbear polluting the precincts of the god with the blood of animals. To avoid offending against their prejudices in this particular, I crossed the river, and killed our fowls within our own sanctuary, and afterwards concealed the murder by burying the feathers.
Sagacity of Elephants. Usarwās.
Wolves.
The Banās River. The Fairy Gift Legend.
Halted the 17th, to collect the dislocated baggage; for although such scenes, seasoned with romance, might do very well for us, our followers were ignorant of the name of Ann Radcliffe or other conjurers; and though admirers of tradition, like myself, preferred it after dinner. Usarwas is a valuable village, but now thinly inhabited. It was recently given by the Rana, with his accustomed want of reflection, to a Charan bard, literally for an old song. But even this folly was surpassed on his bestowing the township of Sesoda,[[14]] in the valley in advance, the place from which his tribe takes its appellation, on another of the fraternity, named Kishna, his master bard, who has the art to make his royal patron believe that opportunity alone is wanting to render his name as famed as that of the illustrious Sanga, or the immortal Partap. I received and returned the visit of an ascetic Sannyasi, whose hermitage was perched upon a cliff not far from our tents. Like most of his brethren, he was intelligent, and had a considerable store of local and foreign legends at command. He was dressed in a loose orange-coloured anga or tunic, with a turban of the same material, in which was twisted a necklace of the lotus-kernel;[[15]] he had another in his hand, with which he repeated the name of the deity at intervals. He expressed his own surprise and the sentiments of the inhabitants at the tranquillity they enjoyed, without any tumultuary cause being discoverable; and said that we must be something more than human. This superstitious feeling for a while was felt as well by the prince and the turbulent chief, as by the anchorite of Usarwas.
Samecha.
Terrace Cultivation.
The air of this elevated region gave vigour to the limbs, and appetite to the disordered stomach. There was an exhilarating fraîcheur, which made us quite frantic; the transition being from 96° of Fahrenheit to English summer heat. We breakfasted in a verdant spot under the shade of a noble fig-tree fanned by the cool breezes from the mountains.
Samecha Town. Rājpūt Bhūmias.
October 19.—Marched to Kelwara, the capital of this mountainous region, and the abode of the Ranas when driven from Chitor and the plains of the Banas; on which occasion these valleys received and maintained a great portion of the population of Mewar. There is not a rock or a stream that has not some legend attached to it, connected with these times. The valley presents the same features as already described. Passed a cleft in the mountain on the left, through which a stream rushes, called the “elephant’s pool”; a short cut may be made by the foot passenger to Kelwara, but it is too intricate for any unaccustomed to these wilds to venture. We could not ascertain the origin of the “elephant’s pool,” but it is most likely connected with ancient warfare. Passed the village of Murcha, held by a Rathor chieftain. On the margin of a small lake adjoining the village, a small and very neat sacrificial altar attracted my regard; and not satisfied with the reply that it was sati ka makan, ‘the place of faith,’ I sent to request the attendance of the village seer. It proved to be that of the ancestor of the occupant: a proof of devotion to her husband, who had fallen in the wars waged by Aurangzeb against this country; when, with a relic of her lord, she mounted the pyre. He is sculptured on horseback, with lance at rest, to denote that it is no churl to whom the record is devoted.
CITADEL OF THE HILL FORTRESS OF KŪMBHALMER.
To face page 776.
Near the “elephant’s pool,” and at the village of Kherli, two roads diverge: one, by the Bargula nal or pass, conducts direct to Nathdwara; the other, leading to Rincher, and the celebrated shrine of the four-armed god,[[20]] famed as a place of pilgrimage. The range on our left terminating abruptly, we turned by Uladar to Kelwara, and encamped in a mango-grove, on a tableland half a mile north of the town. Here the valley enlarges, presenting a wild, picturesque, and rugged appearance. The barometer indicated about a thousand feet of elevation above the level of Udaipur, which is about two thousand above the sea: yet we were scarcely above the base of the alpine cliffs which towered around us on all sides. It was the point of divergence for the waters, which, from the numerous fountains in [669] these uplands, descended each declivity, to refresh the arid plains of Marwar to the west, and to swell the lakes of Mewar to the east. Previous to the damming of the stream which forms that little ocean, the Kankroli lake, it is asserted that the supply to the west was very scanty, nearly all flowing eastward, or through the valley; but since the formation of the lake, and consequent saturation of the intermediate region, the streams are ever flowing to the west. The spot where I encamped was at least five hundred feet lower than Aret pol, the first of the fortified barriers leading to Kumbhalmer, whose citadel rose more than seven hundred feet above the terre-pleine of its outworks beneath.
Kūmbhalmer Fort. Mahārāja Daulat Singh.—The Maharaja Daulat Singh, a near relative of the Rana, and governor of Kumbhalmer, attended by a numerous suite, the crimson standard, trumpets, kettledrums, seneschal, and bard, advanced several miles to meet and conduct me to the castle. According to etiquette, we both dismounted and embraced, and afterwards rode together conversing on the affairs of the province, and the generally altered condition of the country. Daulat Singh, being of the immediate kin of his sovereign, is one of the Babas or infants of Mewar, enumerated in the tribe called Ranawat, with the title of Maharaja. Setting aside the family of Sheodan Singh, he is the next in succession to the reigning family. He is one of the few over whom the general demoralization has had no power, and remains a simple-minded straightforward honest man; blunt, unassuming, and courteous. His rank and character particularly qualify him for the post he holds on this western frontier, which is the key to Marwar. It was in February 1818 that I obtained possession of this place (Kumbhalmer), by negotiating the arrears of the garrison. Gold is the cheapest, surest, and most expeditious of all generals in the East, amongst such mercenaries as we had to deal with, who change masters with the same facility as they would their turban. In twenty-four hours we were put in possession of the fort, and as we had not above one-third of the stipulated sum in ready cash, they without hesitation took a bill of exchange, written on the drum-head, on the mercantile town of Pali in Marwar: in such estimation is British faith held, even by the most lawless tribes of India! Next morning we saw them winding down the western declivity, while we quietly took our breakfast in an old ruined temple. During this agreeable employment, we were joined by Major Macleod, of the artillery, sent by General Donkin to report on the facilities of reducing the place by siege, and [670] his opinion being, that a gun could not be placed in position in less than six weeks, the grilling spared the European force in such a region was well worth the £4000 of arrears. My own escort and party remained in possession for a week, until the Rana sent his garrison. During these eight days our time was amply occupied in sketching and deciphering the monumental records of this singularly diversified spot. It would be vain to attempt describing the intricacies of approach to this far-famed abode, whose exterior is delineated by the pencil. A massive wall, with numerous towers and pierced battlements, having a strong resemblance to the Etruscan, encloses a space of some miles extent below, while the pinnacle or sikhara rises, like the crown of the Hindu Cybele, tier above tier of battlements, to the summit, which is crowned with the Badal Mahall, or ‘cloud-palace’ of the Ranas. Thence the eye ranges over the sandy deserts and the chaotic mass of mountains, which are on all sides covered with the cactus, which luxuriates amidst the rocks of the Aravalli. Besides the Aret[[21]] pol, or barrier thrown across the first narrow ascent, about one mile from Kelwara, there is a second called the Halla[[22]] pol, intermediate to the Hanuman[[23]] pol, the exterior gate of the fortress, between which and the summit there are three more, viz. the gate of victory, the sanguinary gate, and that of Rama, besides the last, or Chaugan[[24]] pol. The barometer stood, at half-past seven A.M., 26° 65´; thermometer 58° Fahr. at the Aret pol: and on the summit at nine, while the thermometer rose to 75°, the barometer had only descended 15´, and stood at 26° 50´,[[25]] though we had ascended full six hundred feet.
A Jain Temple.
JAIN TEMPLE.
In the Fortress of Kūmbhalmer.
To face page 780.
Who, that has a spark of imagination, but has felt the indescribable emotion which the gloom and silence of a Gothic cathedral excites? The very extent provokes a comparison humiliating to the pigmy spectator, and this is immeasurably increased when the site is the mountain pinnacle, where man and his works fade into nothing in contemplating the magnificent expanse of nature. The Hindu priest did not raise the temple for heterogeneous multitudes: he calculated that the mind would be more highly excited when left to its solitary devotions, amidst the silence of these cloistered columns, undisturbed save by the monotony of the passing bell, while the surrounding gloom is broken only by the flare of the censer as the incense mounts above the altar.
Temple of Māma Devi.
The most interesting portion of this temple is its court, formed by a substantial wall enclosing a tolerable area. The interior of this wall had been entirely covered with immense tables of black marble, on which was inscribed the history of their gods, and, what was of infinitely greater importance, that of the mortal princes who had erected the tablets in their honour. But what a sight for the antiquary! Not one of the many tables was entire; the fragments were strewed about, or placed in position to receive the flesh-pots of the sons of Ishmael, the mercenary Rohilla Afghan [673].[[29]]
Memorial of Prithirāj and Tāra Bāi.
RUINS IN KŪMBHALMER.
To face page 782.
This fair ‘star’ (tara) was the daughter of Rao Surthan, the chieftain of Badnor. He was of the Solanki tribe, the lineal descendant of the famed Balhara kings of Anhilwara. Thence expelled by the arms of Ala in the thirteenth century, they migrated to Central India, and obtained possession of Tonk-Toda and its lands on the Banas, which from remote times had been occupied (perhaps founded) by the Taks, and hence bore the name of Taksilanagar, familiarly Takatpur and Toda.[[30]] Surthan had been deprived of Toda by Lila the Afghan, and now occupied Badnor at the foot of the Aravalli, within the bounds of Mewar. Stimulated by the reverses of her family, and by the incentives of its ancient glory, Tara Bai, scorning the habiliments and occupations of her sex, learned to guide the war-horse, and throw with unerring aim the arrow from his back, even while at speed. Armed with the bow and quiver, and mounted on a fiery Kathiawar, she joined the cavalcade in their unsuccessful attempts to wrest Toda from the Afghan. Jaimall, the third son of Rana Raemall, in person made proposals for her hand. “Redeem Toda,” said the star of Badnor, “and my hand is thine.” He assented to the terms: but evincing a rude determination to be possessed of the prize ere he had earned it, he was slain by the indignant father. Prithiraj, the brother of the deceased, was then in exile in Marwar; he had just signalized his valour, and ensured his father’s forgiveness, the redemption of Godwar,[[31]] and the [674] catastrophe at Badnor determined him to accept the gage thrown down to Jaimall. Fame and the bard had carried the renown of Prithiraj far beyond the bounds of Mewar; the name alone was attractive to the fair, and when thereto he who bore it added all the chivalrous ardour of his prototype, the Chauhan, Tara Bai, with the sanction of her father, consented to be his, on the simple asseveration that “he would restore to them Toda, or he was no true Rajput.” The anniversary of the martyrdom of the sons of Ali was the season chosen for the exploit.[[32]] Prithiraj formed a select band of five hundred cavaliers, and accompanied by his bride, the fair Tara, who insisted on partaking his glory and his danger, he reached Toda at the moment the ta’aziya or bier containing the martyr-brothers was placed in the centre of the chauk or ‘square.’ The prince, Tara Bai, and the faithful Sengar chief, the inseparable companion of Prithiraj, left their cavalcade and joined the procession as it passed under the balcony of the palace in which the Afghan was putting on his dress preparatory to descending. Just as he had asked who were the strange horsemen that had joined the throng, the lance of Prithiraj and an arrow from the bow of his Amazonian bride stretched him on the floor. Before the crowd recovered from the panic, the three had reached the gate of the town, where their exit was obstructed by an elephant. Tara Bai with her scimitar divided his trunk, and the animal flying, they joined their cavalcade, which was close at hand.
The Afghans were encountered, and could not stand the attack. Those who did not fly were cut to pieces; and the gallant Prithiraj inducted the father of his bride into his inheritance. A brother of the Afghans, in his attempt to recover it, lost his life. The Nawab Mallu Khan then holding Ajmer determined to oppose the Sesodia prince in person; who, resolved upon being the assailant, advanced to Ajmer, encountered his foe in the camp at daybreak, and after great slaughter entered Garh Bitli, the citadel, with the fugitives. “By these acts,” says the chronicle, “his fame increased in Rajwara: one thousand Rajputs, animated by the same love of glory and devotion, gathered round the nakkaras of Prithiraj. Their swords shone in the heavens, and were dreaded on the earth; but they aided the defenceless.”
Another story is recorded and confirmed by Muhammadan writers as to the result, though they are ignorant of the impulse which prompted the act. Prithiraj on some [675] occasion found the Rana conversing familiarly with an ahadi[[33]] of the Malwa king, and feeling offended at the condescension, expressed himself with warmth. The Rana ironically replied: “You are a mighty seizer of kings; but for me, I desire to retain my land.” Prithiraj abruptly retired, collected his band, made for Nimach, where he soon gathered five thousand horse, and reaching Dipalpur, plundered it, and slew the governor. The king on hearing of the irruption left Mandu at the head of what troops he could collect; but the Rajput prince, in lieu of retreating, rapidly advanced and attacked the camp while refreshing after the march. Singling out the royal tent, occupied by eunuchs and females, the king was made captive, and placed on an express camel beside the prince, who warned the pursuers to follow peaceably, or he would put his majesty to death; adding that he intended him no harm, but that after having made him “touch his father’s feet,” he should restore him to liberty. Having carried him direct to Chitor and to his father’s presence, he turned to him saying, “Send for your friend the ahadi, and ask him who this is?” The Malwa king was detained a month within the walls of Chitor, and having paid his ransom in horses, was set at liberty with every demonstration of honour.[[34]] Prithiraj returned to Kumbhalmer, his residence, and passed his life in exploits like these from the age of fourteen to twenty-three, the admiration of the country and the theme of the bard.
It could not be expected that long life would be the lot of one who thus courted distinction, though it was closed neither by shot nor sabre, but by poison, when on the eve of prosecuting his unnatural feud against his brother Sanga, the place of whose retreat was made known by his marriage with the daughter of the chieftain of Srinagar, who had dared to give him protection in defiance of his threats.
At the same time he received a letter from his sister, written in great grief, complaining of the barbarous treatment of her lord, the Sirohi prince, from whose tyranny she begged to be delivered and to be restored to the paternal roof; since whenever he had indulged too freely in the ‘essence of the flower,’ or in opium, he used to place her under the bedstead, and leave her to sleep on the floor. Prithiraj instantly departed, reached Sirohi at midnight, scaled the palace, and interrupted the repose of Pabhu Rao by placing his poniard at his throat. His wife, notwithstanding his cruelty, complied with his humiliating appeal for mercy, and begged his life, which was granted on condition of his standing as a suppliant with his wife’s [676] shoes on his head, and touching her feet, the lowest mark of degradation. He obeyed, was forgiven, and embraced by Prithiraj, who became his guest during five days. Pabhu Rao was celebrated for a confection, of which he presented some to his brother at parting. He partook of it as he came in sight of Kumbhalmer; but on reaching the shrine of Mama Devi was unable to proceed. Here he sent a message to the fair Tara to come and bid him farewell; but so subtle was the poison, that death had overtaken him ere she descended from the citadel. Her resolution was soon formed; the pyre was erected, and with the mortal remains of the chivalrous Prithiraj in her embrace, she sought “the regions of the sun.” Such the end of the Sesodia prince, and the star of Badnor. From such instances we must form our opinion of the manners of these people. But for the poisoned confection of the chief of Sirohi, Prithiraj would have had the glory of opposing himself to Babur, instead of his heroic brother and successor, Sanga.[[35]] Whether, from his superior ardour of temperament, and the love of military glory which attracted similarly constituted minds to his fortunes, he would have been more successful than his brother, it is futile to conjecture.
The Frontier of Mārwār.—October 20.—Halted till noon, that the men might dress their dinners, and prepare for the descent into “the region of death,” or Marwar. The pass by which we had to gain it was represented as terrific; but as both horse and elephant, with the aid of the hatchet, will pick their way wherever man can go, we determined to persevere. Struck the camp at noon, when the baggage filed off, halting ourselves till three; the escort and advanced tents, and part of the cuisine being ordered to clear the pass, while we designed to spend the night midway, in a spot forming the natural boundary of Mewar and Marwar, reported to be sufficiently capacious. Rumour had not magnified the difficulties of the descent, which we found strewed with our baggage, arresting all progress for a full hour. For nearly a mile there was but just breadth sufficient to admit the passage of a loaded elephant, the descent being at an angle of 55° with the horizon, and streams on either side rushing with a deafening roar over their rugged beds. As we gained a firmer footing at the base of this first descent, we found that the gallant Manika, the gift of my friend the Bundi prince, had missed his footing and rolled down the steep, breaking the cantle of the saddle; a little farther appeared the cook, hanging in dismay over the scattered implements of his art, his camel remonstrating against the [677] replacing of his kajavas or panniers. For another mile it became more gentle, when we passed under a tower of Kumbhalmer, erected on a scarped projection of the rock, full five hundred feet above us. The scenery was magnificent; the mountains rising on each side in every variety of form, and their summits, as they caught a ray of the departing sun, reflecting on our sombre path a momentary gleam from the masses of rose-coloured quartz which crested them. Noble forest trees covered every face of the hills and the bottom of the glen, through which, along the margin of the serpentine torrent which we repeatedly crossed, lay our path. Notwithstanding all our mishaps, partly from the novelty and grandeur of the scene, and partly from the invigorating coolness of the air, our mirth became wild and clamorous: a week before I was oppressed with a thousand ills; and now I trudged the rugged path, leaping the masses of granite which had rolled into the torrent.
There was one spot where the waters formed a pool or dah. Little Carey determined to trust to his pony to carry him across, but deviating to the left, just as I was leaping from a projecting ledge, to my horror, horse and rider disappeared. The shock was momentary, and a good ducking the only result, which in the end was the luckiest thing that could have befallen him. On reaching the Hathidarra, or ‘barrier of the elephant’ (a very appropriate designation for a mass of rock serving as a rampart to shut up the pass), where we had intended to remain the night, we found no spot capacious enough even for a single tent. Orders accordingly passed to the rear for the baggage to collect there, and wait the return of day to continue the march. The shades of night were fast descending, and we proceeded almost in utter darkness towards the banks of the stream, the roar of whose waters was our guide, and not a little perplexed by the tumultuous rush which issued from every glen, to join that we were seeking. Towards the termination of the descent the path became wider, and the voice of the waters of a deeper and hoarser tone, as they glided to gain the plains of Marwar. The vault of heaven, in which there was not a cloud, appeared as an arch to the perpendicular cliffs surrounding us on all sides, and the stars beamed with peculiar brilliancy from the confined space through which we viewed them. As we advanced in perfect silence, fancy busily at work on what might befall our straggling retinue from the ferocious tiger or plundering mountaineer, a gleam of light suddenly flashed upon us on emerging from the brushwood, and disclosed a party of dismounted cavaliers seated round their night-fires under some magnificent fig-trees [678].[[36]]
Meeting with the Mers.
KOLI AND BHIL.
CHĀRAN OR BARD.
(The Foresters of Rājputana.)
To face page 788.
[1]. The amphitheatre, or circle. [The valley of Udaipur.]
[2]. Sabun, in the lingua franca of India, signifies ‘soap.’ [The soap-nut tree (sapindus mukorossi), the fruit of which is used for washing clothes and the hair (Watt, Comm. Prod. 979).]
[3]. [Raised by James Skinner (1778-1841), known as “The Yellow Boys,” in 1823; 1st Irregular Cavalry (Skinner’s Horse), 1840; 1st Bengal Cavalry, 1861 (F. G. Cardew, Sketch of the Services of the Bengal Native Army to the Year 1895).]
[4]. [Calligonum polygonoides, a shrub on which camels live for the greater part of the year.]
[5]. Bhanej, or ‘nephew,’ a title of courtesy enjoyed by every chieftain who marries a daughter or immediate kinswoman of the Rana’s house. [When Bhīm Singh succeeded in 1793, his first act was to drive his uncle, Zālim Singh, the son of a Mewār princess, from Jodhpur. He took refuge in Udaipur, and passed the rest of his days in literary pursuits. He was a man of charm and ability, a gallant soldier, no mean poet. He died in the prime of life in British Merwāra in 1799 (Erskine iii. A. 70).]
[6]. My guide or instructor, Yati Gyanchandra, a priest of the Jain sect, who had been with me ten years. To him I owe much, for he entered into all my antiquarian pursuits with zeal.
[7]. [A chiefship in Central India under the Bhopāl Agency. In 1819 Subhāg Singh becoming imbecile was replaced by his son Chain Singh, after whose death in 1824 he was restored (IGI, xviii. 353).]
[8]. [As usual, Jainism and Buddhism are confounded.]
[9]. One of the four Agnikulas. [The Umats were not a distinguished tribe until Achal Singh, Dīwān of Narsinghgarh, married his son to a near relation of the Mahārāna of Udaipur, and since this alliance many of the principal Mālwa families eat with the Rājas of Umatwāra (Malcolm, Memoir of Central India, 2nd ed. ii. 130 f.). For a full and slightly different account see IGI, xviii. 382 ff.]
[10]. [Chain Singh quarrelled with the Political Agent, attacked the British forces at Sehore, and was killed in the battle in 1824 (IGI, xviii. 383).]
[11]. Sindhia’s flag is a snake argent on an orange field.
[12]. Pān, ‘the leaf’; parna and pattra, the Sanskrit for ‘a leaf’; and hence panna, ‘a leaf or sheet of paper’; and patra, ‘a plate of metal or sacrificial cup,’ because these vessels were first made of leaves. I was amused with the coincidence between the Sanskrit and Tuscan panna. That lovely subject by Raphael, the “Madonna impannata,” in the Pitti Palace at Florence, is so called from the subdued light admitted through the window, the panes of which are of paper. [The words have no connexion.]
[13]. [A variant of the well-known Fairy Gift legend (Crooke, Popular Religion and Folklore of N. India, 2nd ed. i. 287 ff.).]
[14]. [The home of the Rāna branch of Guhilots, who take the name of Sesodia from it, while Chitor was the capital of the Rāwal branch of the ruling house (Erskine ii. A. 15).]
[15]. [Lotus nuts are used for necklaces, but Sannyāsis usually wear those of the rudrāksha (Elaeocarpus ganitrus) (Watt, Econ. Dict. v. 345; Comm. Prod. 511).]
[16]. [Acacia catechu, Capparis aphylla, Acacia arabica.]
[17]. [Ficus glomerata, Annona squamosa, Prunus persica.]
[18]. [Our knowledge of Indian locusts is still imperfect, the best-known varieties being the Bombay and the North-West (Watt, Econ. Dict. vi. Part i. 154 f.; Comm. Prod. 686).]
[19]. [A kind of cucumber, Cucumis utilissimus (Watt, Comm. Prod. 439).]
[20]. [Chaturbhuja Vishnu.]
[21]. [‘The Barrier.’]
[22]. [‘The Onset.’]
[23]. [‘That of the monkey god,’ a common guardian of forts.]
[24]. [Chaugān, ‘the Parade Ground.’]
[25]. At four o’clock P.M., same position, thermometer 81°; barometer, 26° 85´.
[26]. [3658 feet.]
[27]. [Samprati was grandson of Asoka, and he is credited with the erection of many Jain buildings (Smith, EHI, 192 f.; BG, i. Part i. 15). From the picture of the temple given by the author, and from an inscription of the reign of Rāna Sangrām Singh (A.D. 1508-27), it could not have been more than three centuries old when he saw it (IA, ii. 205). There are two temples, one consisting of a square sanctuary with a vaulted dome, and surrounded by a colonnade of elegant pillars: the second is of peculiar design, having three stories, each tier being decorated with massive low columns (Erskine ii. A. 116).]
[28]. See [note], p. [37], above.
[29]. These people assert their Coptic origin: being driven from Egypt by one of the Pharaohs, they wandered eastwards till they arrived under that peak of the mountains west of the Indus called Sulaiman-i-koh, or ‘Hill of Solomon,’ where they halted. Others draw their descent from the lost tribes. They are a very marked race, and as unsettled as their forefathers, serving everywhere. They are fine gallant men, and, when managed by such officers as Skinner, make excellent and orderly soldiers; but they evince great contempt for the eaters of swine, who are their abomination. [The Rohillas, ‘Highlanders,’ are a Pathān tribe which occupied Rohilkhand after the death of Aurangzeb, A.D. 1707 (Crooke, Tribes and Castes N.W.P. and Oudh, iv. 165 f.).]
[30]. From the ruins of its temples, remnants of Takshak architecture, the amateur might speedily fill a portfolio. This tract abounds with romantic scenery: Rajmahall on the Banas, Gokaran, and many others. Herbert calls Chitor the abode of Taxiles, the ally of Alexander. The Taks were all of the race of Puru, so that Porus is a generic, not a proper name. This Taksilanagar has been a large city. We owe thanks to the Emperor Babur, who has given us the position of the city of Taxiles, where Alexander left it, west of the Indus. [The Tāk tribe had no connexion with Chitor.]
[32]. [The Muharram festival.]
[33]. [Ahadi, ‘single, alone,’ like our warrant-officer, a gentleman trooper in the Mughal service, so called because they offered their services singly, and did not attach themselves to any chief (Āīn, i. 20, note; Irvine, Army of the Indian Moghuls, 43).]
[34]. [This is the Rājput story which lacks confirmation from Muhammadan sources. The captive may have been Ghiyāsū-d-dīn of Mālwa, or Muzaffar Shāh of Gujarāt; but it is probably fiction invented by the Mewār bards (Erskine ii. A. 18).]
[35]. See Annals, p. 353.
[36]. The bar or banyan tree, Ficus Indica.