CHAPTER 7
Fate of the Family of Jaswant Singh.
Birth of Ajīt Singh.
The Johar.
In the midst of this furious contest, the infant prince was saved. To avoid suspicion the heir of Maru, concealed in a basket of sweetmeats, was entrusted to a Muslim, who religiously executed his trust and conveyed him to the appointed spot, where he was joined by the gallant Durgadas with the survivors who had cut their way through all opposition, and who were doomed often to bleed for the prince thus miraculously preserved. It is pleasing to find that if to “the leader [61] of the faithful,” the bigoted Aurangzeb, they owed so much misery, to one (and he of humble life), of the same faith, they owed the preservation of their line. The preserver of Ajit lived to witness his manhood and the redemption of his birthright, and to find that princes are not always ungrateful; for he was distinguished at court, was never addressed but as Kaka, or uncle, by the prince; and to the honour of his successors be it told, the lands then settled upon him are still enjoyed by his descendants.
The Youth of Ajīt Singh. Campaign of Aurangzeb in Mārwār.
Raj Singh indited that celebrated epistle, which is given in a preceding part of this work.[[14]]
“Seventy thousand men,” says the bard,[[15]] “under Tahawwur Khan, were commanded to destroy the Rajputs, and Aurang followed in person to Ajmer. The Mertia clan assembled, and advanced to Pushkar to oppose him. The battle was in front of the temple of Varaha, where the swords of the Mertias, always first in the fight, played the game of destruction on the heads of the Asuras. Here the Mertias were all slain on the 11th Bhadon, S. 1736.
“Tahawwur continued to advance. The inhabitants of Murdhar fled to the mountains. At Gura the brothers Rupa and Kumbha took post with their clan to oppose him; but they fell with twenty-five of their brethren. As the cloud pours water upon the earth, so did Aurang pour his barbarians over the land. He remained but five days at Ajaidurg (Ajmer), and marched against Chitor. It fell: it appeared as if the heavens had fallen. Ajit was protected by the Rana, and the Rathors led the van in the host of the Sesodias. Seeing the strength of the Yavans, they shut up the young prince, like a flame confined in a vessel. Delhipat (the king of Delhi) came to Debari,[[16]] at whose pass he was opposed by Kumbha, Ugarsen, and Uda, all Rathors. While Aurangzeb attacked Udaipur, Azam was left at Chitor. Then the king learned that Durgadas had invaded Jalor; he abandoned his conquest, and returned to Ajmer, sending Mukarrab Khan to aid Bihari at Jalor; but Durga had raised contributions [63] (dand), and passed to Jodhpur, alike forced to contribute; for the son of Indar Singh, on the part of the king, now commanded in Trikuta (triple-peaked mount). Aurang Shah measured the heavens; he determined to have but one faith in the land. Prince Akbar was sent to join Tahawwur Khan. Rapine and conflagration spread over the land. The country became a waste; fear stalked triumphant. Providence had willed this affliction. The Indhas were put in possession of Jodhpur; but were encountered at Ketapur and put to the sword by the Champawats. Once more they lost the title of Raos of Murdardes, and thus the king’s intentions of bestowing sovereignty on the Parihars were frustrated on the 13th day of Jeth, S. 1736.
Retreat of the Rathors.
The Rebellion of Prince Akbar, A.D. 1681.
The dethronement of the tyrant appeared inevitable. The scourge of the Rajputs was in their power, for he was almost alone and without the hope of succour. But his energies never forsook him; he knew the character of his foes, and that on an emergency his grand auxiliary, stratagem, was equal to an army. As there is some variation both in the Mogul historian’s account of this momentous transaction and in the annals of Mewar and Marwar,[[22]] we present the latter verbatim from the chronicle.
“Akbar, with multitudes of Rajputs, advanced upon Ajmer. But while Aurang prepared for the storm, the prince gave himself up to women and the song, placing everything in the hands of Tahawwur Khan. We are the slaves of fate; puppets that dance as it pulls the strings. Tahawwur allowed himself to dream of treason; it was whispered in his ear that if he could deliver Akbar to his father, high rewards would follow. At night he went privily to Aurangzeb, and thence wrote to the Rathors: ‘I was the bond of union betwixt you and Akbar, but the dam which separated the waters has broken down. Father and son again are one. Consider the pledges, given and received, as restored, and depart for your own lands.’ Having sealed this with his signet, and dispatched a messenger to the Rathors, he appeared before Aurangzeb to receive the fruit of his service. But his treason met its [65] reward, and before he could say, the imperial orders were obeyed, a blow of the mace from the hand of the monarch sent his soul to hell. At midnight the Dervesh messenger reached the Rathor camp; he put the letter into their hand, which stated father and son were united; and added from himself that Tahawwur Khan was slain. All was confusion; the Rathors saddled and mounted, and moved a coss from Akbar’s camp. The panic spread to his troops, who fled like the dried leaves of the sugar-cane when carried up in a whirlwind, while the prince was attending to the song and the wiles of the wanton.”
The Rāthors abandon Akbar.
The next day they were undeceived by the junction of the prince, who, when made acquainted with the departure of his allies, and the treason and death of Tahawwur Khan, could scarcely collect a thousand men to abide by his fortunes. With these he followed his panic-struck allies, and threw himself and his family upon their hospitality and protection—an appeal never made in vain to the Rajput. The poetic account, by the bard Karnidhan, of the reception of the prince by the chivalry of Maru, is remarkably minute and spirited:—the warriors and senators enter into a solemn debate as to the conduct to be pursued to the prince now claiming saran (sanctuary), when the bard takes occasion to relate the pedigree and renown of the chiefs of every clan. Each chief delivers his sentiments in a speech full of information respecting their national customs and manners. It also displays a good picture of “the power of the swans, and the necessity of feeding them with pearls,” to enable them to sing with advantage. The council breaks up with the declaration of its determination to protect Akbar at all hazards, and Jetha, the brother of the head of the Champawats, is nominated to the charge of protector of Akbar’s family. The gallant Durga, the Ulysses of the Rathors, is the manager of this dramatic convention, the details of which are wound up with an eulogy in true oriental hyperbole, in the Doric accents of Maru: [66]—
Māi chā pūt jin,
Jehā Durgādās,
Band Murdhara rakhiyo
Vin thāmbhā ākās.[[23]]
“O mother! produce such sons as Durgadas, who first supported the dam of Murdhara, and then propped the heavens.”
Character of Durgadās.
Durga at the head of his bands, together with young Akbar, moved towards the western extremity of the State, in hopes that they might lead the emperor in pursuit amongst the sandhills of the Luni; but the wily monarch tried other arts, and first attempted to corrupt Durga. He sent him eight thousand gold mohurs,[[24]] which the Rajput instantly applied to the necessities of Akbar, who was deeply affected at this proof of devotion, and distributed a portion of it amongst Durga’s retainers. Aurangzeb, seeing the futility of this plan, sent a force in pursuit of his son, who, knowing he had no hope of mercy if he fell into his father’s hands, was anxious to place distance between them. Durga pledged himself for his safety, and relinquished all to ensure it. Making over the guardianship of young Ajit to his elder brother, Soning, and placing himself at the head of one thousand chosen men, he turned towards the south. The bard enumerates the names and families of all the chieftains of note who formed the bodyguard of prince Akbar in this desperate undertaking. The Champawats were the most numerous, but he specifies several of the home clans, as the Jodha and Mertia, and amongst the foreign Rajputs, the Jadon, Chauhan, Bhatti, Deora, Sonigira, and Mangalia [67].
Escape of Prince Akbar.
“In fidelity who excelled the Khichis Sheo Singh and Mukund, who never left the person of Ajit, when his infancy was concealed in the mountains of Arbud? to them alone, and the faithful Sonigira, did Durga confide the secret of his retreat. The vassals of the Nine Castles of Maru knew that he was concealed; but where or in whose custody all were ignorant. Some thought he was at Jaisalmer; others at Bikampur; others at Sirohi. The eight divisions nobly supported the days of their exile; their sinews sustained the land of Murdhar. Raos, Rajas, and Ranas applauded their deeds, for all were alike enveloped in the net of destruction. In all the nine thousand [towns] of Murdhar, and the ten thousand of Mewar,[[30]] inhabitants there were none. Inayat Khan was left with ten thousand men to preserve Jodhpur; but the Champawat is the Sumer[[31]] of Maru, and without fear was Durga’s brother, Soning. With Khemkaran the Karanot, and Sabhal the Jodha, Bijmall the Mahecha, Jethmall Sujot, Kesari Karanot, and the Jodha brethren Sheodan and Bhim, and many more collected their clans and kin, and as soon as they heard that the king was within four coss of Ajmer they blockaded the Khan [68] in the city of Jodha; but twenty thousand Moguls came to the rescue. Another dreadful conflict ensued at the gates of Jodhpur, in which the Jadon Kishor, who led the battle, and many other chiefs were slain, yet not without many hundreds of the foe; the 9th Asarh, S. 1737.
“Soning carried the sword and the flame into every quarter. Aurang could neither advance nor retreat. He was like the serpent seizing the musk-rat, which, if liberated, caused blindness; but if swallowed, was like poison. Harnath and Kana Singh took the road to Sojat. They surrounded and drove away the cattle, which brought the Asurs to the rescue. A dreadful strife ensued; the chief of the Asurs was slain, but the brothers and all their kin bedewed the land with their blood. This, the sakha of Sojat, was when 1737 ended and 1738 commenced, when the sword and the pestilence (mari[[32]]) united to clear the land.
“Soning was the Rudra of the field; Agra and Delhi trembled at his deeds; he looked on Aurang as the waning moon. The king sent an embassy to Soning; it was peace he desired. He offered the mansab of Sat Hazari for Ajit,[[33]] and what dignities he might demand for his brethren—the restoration of Ajmer, and to make Soning its governor. To the engagement was added, ‘the panja is affixed in ratification of this treaty, witnessed by God Almighty.’[[34]] The Diwan, Asad Khan, was the negotiator, and the Aremdi,[[35]] who was with him, solemnly swore to its maintenance. The treaty concluded, the king, whose thoughts could not be diverted from Akbar, departed for the Deccan. Asad Khan was left at Ajmer, and Soning at Merta [69]. But Soning was a thorn in the side of Aurangzeb; he bribed the Brahmans, who threw pepper into the Homa (burnt sacrifice) and secured for Soning a place in Suraj Mandala (the mansion of the sun). The day following the treaty, by the incantations of Auranga, Soning was no more.[[36]] Asoj the 6th, S. 1738.
“Asad sent the news to the king. This terror being removed, the king withdrew his panja from his treaty, and in joy departed for the Deccan. The death of Soning shed gloom and grief over the land. Then Mukund Singh Mertia, son of Kalyan, abandoned his mansab and joined his country’s cause. A desperate encounter soon followed with the troops of Asad Khan near Merta, in which Ajit, the son of Bitaldas, who led the fight, was slain, with many of each clan, which gave joy to the Asurs, but grief to the faithful Rajput; on the second day of the bright half of the moon of Kartik, S. 1738.
“Prince Azam was left with Asad Khan; Inayat at Jodhpur; and their garrisons were scattered over the land, as their tombs (gor) everywhere attest. The lord of Chandawal, Shambhu Kumpawat, now led the Rathors with Udang Singh Bakhshi, and Tejsi, the young son of Durga, the bracelet on the arm of Mahadeva, with Fateh Singh and Ram Singh, just returned from placing Akbar safely in the Deccan, and many other valiant Rathors.[[37]] They spread over the country even to Mewar, sacked Pur-Mandal, and slew the governor Kasim Khan.”
These desultory and bloody affrays, though they kept the king’s troops in perpetual alarm and lost them myriads of men, thinned the ranks of the defenders of Maru, who again took refuge in the Aravalli. From thence, watching every opportunity, they darted on their prey. On one occasion they fell upon the garrison of Jaitaran, which they routed and expelled, or as the chronicle quaintly says, “with the year 1739 they also fled.” At the same time, the post of Sojat was carried by Bija Champawat, while the Jodhawats, under Ram Singh, kept their foes in play to the northward, and led by Udaibhan attacked the Mirza Nur Ali at Charai: “the contest lasted for three hours; the dead bodies of the Yavans lay in heaps in the Akhara; who even abandoned their Nakkaras.”[[38]]
“After the affair of Jaitaran, when Udai Singh Champawat and Mohkam Singh Mertia were the leaders, they made a push for Gujarat, and had penetrated to [70] Kheralu,[[39]] when they were attacked, pursued, and surrounded in the hills at Renpur, by Sayyid Muhammad, the Hakim of Gujarat. All night they stood to their arms. In the morning the sword rained and filled the cars of the Apsaras. Karan and Kesari were slain, with Gokuldas Bhatti, with all their civil officers, and Ram Singh himself renounced life on this day.[[40]] But the Asurs pulled up the reins, having lost many men. Pali was also attacked in the month of Bhadon this year 1739; then the game of destruction was played with Nur Ali, three hundred Rathors against five hundred of the king’s troops, which were routed, losing their leader, Afzal Khan, after a desperate struggle.
“Bala was the hero who drove the Yavan from this post. Udaya attacked the Sidi at Sojat. Jaitaran was again reinforced. In Baisakh, Mohkam Singh Mertia attacked the royal post at Merta, slew Sayyid Ali, and drove out the king’s troops.”
Assistance given by the Bhattis.
“In S. 1740, Azam and Asad Khan joined the emperor in the Deccan, and Inayat Khan was left in command at Ajmer—being enjoined not to relax the war in Marwar, even with the setting in of the rains. Merwara afforded a place of rendezvous for the Rathors, and security for their families. Here eleven thousand of the best troops of Inayat invaded the hills to attack the united Jodhas and Champawats, who retaliated on Pali, Sojat, and Godwar. The ancient Mandor, which was occupied by a garrison under Khwaja Salah, was attacked by the Mandecha Bhatti and driven out. At Bagri, a desperate encounter took place in the month of Baisakh, when Ram Singh and Samant Singh, both Bhatti chiefs, fell, with two hundred of their vassals, slaying one thousand of the Moguls. The Karamsots and Kumpawats, under Anup Singh, scoured the banks of the Luni, and put to the sword the garrisons of Ustara and Gangani. Mohkam, with his Mertias, made a descent on his patrimonial lands, and drew upon him the whole force of its [71] governor, Muhammad Ali. The Mertias met him on their own native plains. The Yavan proposed a truce, and at the interview assassinated the head of the Mertias, tidings of whose death rejoiced the Shah in the Deccan.
“At the beginning of 1741, neither strife nor fear had abated. Sujan Singh led the Rathors in the south, while Lakha Champawat and Kesar Kumpawat, aided by the Bhattis and Chauhans, kept the garrison of Jodhpur in alarm. When Sujan was slain, the bard was sent to Sangram, who held a mansab and lands from the king; he was implored to join his brethren; he obeyed, and all collected around Sangram.[[41]] Siwancha[[42]] was attacked, and with Bhalotra and Panchbhadra were plundered; while the blockaded garrisons were unable to aid. An hour before sunset every gate of Maru was shut. The Asurs had the strongholds in their power; but the plains resounded with the An[[43]] of Ajit. Udaibhan, with his Jodhawats, appeared before Bhadrajun; he assaulted the foe and captured his guns and treasure. An attempt from Jodhpur made to recapture the trophies, added to the triumph of the Jodha.
Abduction of the Asāni Girls.
“The year 1742 commenced with the slaughter of the king’s garrison at Sambhar by the Lakhawats and Asawats;[[48]] while from Godwar the chiefs made incursions to the gates of Ajmer. A battle took place at Merta, where the Rathors were defeated and dispersed; but in revenge Sangram burned the suburbs of Jodhpur, and then came to Dunara, where once more the clans assembled. They marched, invested Jalor, when Bihari, left without succour, was compelled to capitulate, and the gate of honour (dharmadwara) was left open to him. And thus ended 1742.”
[1]. [Erskine (iii. A, 62) gives the story from local sources; also see Elliot-Dowson vii. 297 f.]
[2]. A delicate mode of naming the female part of Jaswant’s family; the ‘royal abode’ included his young daughters, sent to inhabit heaven (swarga).
[3]. Pluto.
[4]. ‘The lord of the shell,’ an epithet of Siva, as the god of war; his war-trump being a shell (sankh); his chaplet (mala), which the Rathor bard says was incomplete until this fight, being of human skulls. [Sankara, a title of Siva, means ‘causing happiness,’ and has no connexion with sankh, ‘a shell.’]
[5]. Queen of the Apsaras, or celestial nymphs.
[6]. Pope makes Sarpedon say:
“The life that others pay, let us bestow,
And give to fame what we to nature owe.”
[7]. I.e. blood.
[8]. “The city of the moon.”
[9]. The lunar abode seems that allotted for all bards, who never mention Bhanloka, or the ‘mansion of the sun,’ as a place of reward for them. Doubtless they could assign a reason for such a distinction.
[10]. This is but a short transcript of the poetic account of this battle, in which the deeds, name, and tribe of every warrior who fell are related. The heroes of Thermopylae had not a more brilliant theme for the bard. [Compare the more matter-of-fact accounts of Khāfi Khān, Elliot-Dowson (vii. 296 f.), and of Manucci (ii. 233 f.).]
[11]. Here is another instance of the ancient patronymic being brought in by the bards, and it is thus they preserve the names and deeds of the worthies of past days. Rao Duhar was one of the earliest Rathor kings of Marwar.
[12]. [According to Musalmān authorities, the name of the son of Amar Singh was Indar Singh, not Ratan Singh (Jadunath Sarkar, Life of Aurangzib, iii. 369).]
[13]. [In 1679 Khān Jahān arrived from Jodhpur, bringing several cartloads of idols pillaged from Hindu temples. It was ordered that some should be cast away into the out-offices, and the remainder to be placed beneath the steps of the Great Mosque, there to be trampled under foot (Elliot-Dowson vii. 187; Jadunath Sarkar iii. 323).]
[15]. It may be well to exhibit the manner in which the poetic annalist of Rajputana narrates such events, and to give them in his own language rather than in an epitome, by which not only the pith of the original would be lost, but the events themselves deprived of half their interest. The character of historic fidelity will thus be preserved from suspicion, which could scarcely be withheld if the narrative were exhibited in any but its native garb. This will also serve to sustain the Annals of Marwar, formed from a combination of such materials, and dispose the reader to acknowledge the impossibility of reducing such animated chronicles to the severe style of history. But more than all, it is with the design to prove what, in the preface of this work, the reader was compelled to take on credit; that the Rajput kingdoms were in no ages without such chronicles: and if we may not compare them with Froissart, or with Monstrelet, they may be allowed to compete with the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, and they certainly surpass those of Ulster. But we have stronger motives than even legitimate curiosity, in allowing the bard to tell his own tale of the thirty years’ war of Rajputana; the desire which has animated this task from its commencement, to give a correct idea of the importance of these events, and to hold them up as a beacon to the present governors of these brave men. How well that elegant historian, Orme, appreciates their importance, as bearing on our own conduct in power, the reader will perceive by reference to his Fragments [ed. 1782, note i.], where he says, “There are no states or powers on the continent of India, with whom our nation has either connexion or concern, which do not owe the origin of their present condition to the reign of Aurangzebe, or to its influence on the reigns of his successors.” It behoves us, therefore, to make ourselves acquainted with the causes as well as the characters of those who occasioned the downfall of our predecessors in the sovereignty of India. With this object in view, the bard shall tell his own tale from the birth of Ajit, in S. 1737, to 1767, when he had vanquished all opposition to Aurangzeb, and regained the throne of Maru.
[16]. The cenotaph of these warriors still marks the spot where they fell, on the right on entering the portals.
[17]. The heaps of grain thrashed in the open field, preparatory to being divided and housed, are termed khallas.
[18]. Oath of allegiance.
[19]. The Mewar chronicle claims a victory for the combined Rajput army, and relates a singular stratagem by which they gained it; but either I have overlooked it, or the Raj Vilas does not specify that Prince Bhim, son of the heroic Rana Raj, fell on this day, so glorious in the annals of both States. See Vol. I. p. [448]. [According to Manucci (ii. 234) the Rāja “was obliged to cede to Aurangzeb a province and the town of Mairtha.” According to another story, Aurangzeb offered the succession to Ajīt Singh on condition that he was converted to Islām. The Emperor kept a counterfeit Ajīt Singh in ward, and brought him up as a Musalmān, called him Muhammadi Rāj, and on his death he was buried as a Musalmān (Jadunath Sarkar iii. 374).]
[20]. On Akbar’s rebellion see Jadunath Sarkar iii. 402 ff.]
[21]. Krishna.
[22]. [Orme, Fragments, ed. 1782, 142 ff.; Khāfi Khān in Elliot-Dowson vii. 298 ff.]
[23]. [The reading in the text is that of Dr. Tessitori. Major Luard’s Pandit, questioning the Author’s translation, says that the words Band Murdharā ra rakhyo mean ‘governed Mārwār well,’ and that bin thāmbh ākās, ‘the heavens without a prop,’ refers to the ruler who was a minor.]
[24]. The Mewar chronicle says forty thousand.
[25]. [The hill tract about Siwāna, in S. Mewār.]
[26]. That is, dropped all schemes against it at that moment.
[27]. The Kamdhuj; epithet of the Rathors.
[28]. Charms and incantations, with music, are had recourse to, in order to cause the flight of these destructive insects from the fields they light on.
[29]. [The physician of the gods, born at the churning of the ocean.]
[30]. The number of towns and villages formerly constituting the arrondissement of each State.
[31]. [Meru, the sacred mountain.]
[32]. Mari, or ‘death’ personified, is the name for that fearful scourge the spasmodic cholera morbus, which has caused the loss of so many lives for the last thirteen years throughout India. It appears to have visited India often, of which we have given a frightful record in the Annals of Mewar in the reign of Rana Raj Singh (see Vol. I. p. [454]), in S. 1717 or A.D. 1661 (twenty years prior to the period we treat of); and Orme [Fragments, ed. 1782, p. 200] describes it as raging in the Deccan in A.D. 1684. They had likewise a visitation of it within the memory of many individuals now living.
Regarding the nature of this disease, whether endemic, epidemic, or contagious, and its cure, we are as ignorant now as the first day of our experience. There have been hundreds of conflicting opinions and hypotheses, but none satisfactory. In India, nine medical men out of ten, as well as those not professional, deny its being contagious. At Udaipur, the Rana’s only son, hermetically sealed in the palace against contact, was the first seized with the disorder; a pretty strong proof that it was from atmospheric communication. He was also the last man in his father’s dominions likely, from predisposition, to be attacked, being one of the most athletic and prudent of his subjects. I saw him through the disorder. We were afraid to administer remedies to the last heir of Bappa Rawal, but I hinted to Amarji, who was both bard and doctor, that strong doses of musk (12 grs. each) might be beneficial. These he had, and I prevented his having cold water to drink, and also checking the insensible perspiration by throwing off the bedclothes. Nothing but his robust frame and youth made him resist this tremendous assailant.
[33]. [A command of 7000 troops.]
[34]. See Vol. I. p. [419], for an explanation of the panja—and the treaty which preceded this, made by Rana Raj Singh, the fourth article of which stipulates for terms to the minor son of Jaswant.
[35]. I know not what officer is meant by the Aremdi, sent to swear to the good faith of the king.
[36]. His death was said to be effected by incantations, most probably poison.]
[37]. Many were enumerated by the bardic chronicler, who would deem it sacrilege to omit a single name in the page of fame.
[38]. [Akhāra, ‘a place of wrestling,’ rhyming with nakkāra, ‘a kettle-drum.’]
[39]. [In Baroda State, about 63 miles N. of Ahmadābād.]
[40]. He was one of the gallant chiefs who, with Durga, conveyed prince Akbar to the sanctuary with the Mahrattas.
[41]. We are not informed of what clan he was, or his rank, which must have been high.
[42]. The tract so called, of which Siwana is the capital [in S. Mewār].
[43]. Oath of allegiance.
[44]. It is almost superfluous to remark, even to the mere English reader, that whenever he meets the title Khan, it indicates a Muhammadan [and a Pathān]; and that of Singh (lion) a Rajput.
[45]. Nur Ali. Mirza is a title only applied to a Mogul.
[46]. As a Bhatti revenged this disgrace, it is probable the Asani damsels, thus abducted by the Mirza, were of his own race.
[47]. Garrisons and military posts.
[48]. These are of the most ancient vassalage of Maru.