CHAPTER 2
The Chief of Hīnta.
The discussions regarding Hinta were consequently very warm: the renunciation of ten valuable townships by the Maharaja Zorawar Singh of Bhindar, the head of the Saktawat clans, did not annoy the Bhindar chief so much as his failure to retain Hinta as one of his minor feuds: nay, the surrender of Arja, the price of blood, a far more important castle and domain, by his own brother Fateh Singh (the original acquisition of which sealed the conclusion of a long-standing feud), excited less irritation than the demand that Hinta should revert to the fisc. “It is the key of Bhindar,” said the head of the clan. “It was a Saktawat allotment from the first,” exclaimed his brother. “The Ranawat was an interloper,” cried another. “It is my bapota, the abode of my fathers,” was the more feeling expression of the occupant. It was no light task to deal with such arguments; especially when an appeal to the dictates of reason and justice was thwarted by the stronger impulse of self-interest. But in a matter involving so important a stipulation of the treaty, which required “that all fiscal possessions which, since S. 1822 (A.D. 1766), the commencement of the civil wars, had, by whatever means, passed from the Rana to the chieftains, should be reclaimed,” firmness was essential to the success of a measure on which [605] depended the restoration of order. The Saktawats behaved nobly, and with a purely patriotic spirit throughout the scene, when almost all had to relinquish important possessions. The issue was, that Hinta, with its domain, after remaining twelve months incorporated with the fisc, was restored to Zorawar, but curtailed of Dundia and its twelve hundred acres, which, though united to Hinta, was a distinct township in the old records. Having paid ten thousand rupees as the fine of relief, the chief was girt with the sword, and re-established in his bapota, to the great joy of the whole clan.
Hinta is burdened with the service of fourteen horse and fourteen foot; its rekh, or nominal value, in the patta-bahi, or ‘record of fiefs,’ being seven thousand rupees; but, in consideration of the impoverished condition of his estate, the chief was only called on to furnish five horse and eight foot. The present possessor of Hinta is an adoption from the chieftainship of Kun; but, contrary to established usage, he holds both Hinta and Kun, his parent fief, whereby he has a complex character, and conflicting duties to fulfil. As chief of Kun, he belongs to the third class of nobles, styled gol, and is subject to constant personal attendance on the Rana; as lord of Hinta, too, he has to furnish a quota to serve “at home or abroad!” Being compelled to appear at court in person, his quota for Hinta was placed under the charge of Man Singh (another of the Saktawat sub-vassalage), and was sent to the thana of little Sadri, on the Malwa frontier, to guard it from the depredations of the forester Bhil. But I was commissioned by the Rana to reprimand the representative of Hinta, and to threaten him with the re-sequestration of the estate, if he did not better perform the service for which he held it. In consequence of this remonstrance, I became acquainted with a long tale of woe; and Man Singh’s vindication from a failure of duty will introduce a topic worthy of notice connected with the feudal system of Mewar, namely, the subdivision of fiefs.
Man Singh Saktawat is a younger branch of the Lawa family, and one of the infants who escaped the massacre of Sheogarh, when Lalji Rawat and two generations were cut off to avenge the feud with Kurabar. In order, however, to understand the claims of Man Singh, we must go back to the period when Lalji Rawat was lord of Nethara, which, for some offence, or through some court-intrigue, was resumed, and bestowed on one of the rival clan of Chondawat. Being a younger branch of the Bansi family (one of the senior subdivisions of Bhindar), Lalji was but slenderly provided for in the family allotment (bat). On losing Nethara, he repaired to Dungarpur, whose Rawal gave him a grant of Sheogarh, an almost inaccessible fort on the [606] borders of the two countries. Thus compelled, through faction, to seek subsistence out of his native soil, Lalji renounced his loyalty, and with his sons, now Barwatias or ‘outlaws,’ resolved to prey upon Mewar. They now looked to Bhindar, the head of their clan, as their lord, and joined him in opposing their late sovereign in the field, levying blackmail from the estates of their rivals; or, when the influence of the latter sunk at court, and was supplanted by the clan of Saktawat, Lalji poised his lance in the train of his chief in defence of the throne. Thus passed his life, a chequered course of alternate loyalty and treason, until its tragical close at Sheogarh.[[2]]
Sangram Singh, the eldest son of Lalji,[[3]] with his infant nephews, Jai Singh and Nahar (who was absent), escaped the avenger’s sword, under which perished his father, mother, both brothers, and all his own children, at one fell swoop! Sangram succeeded to the possession of Sheogarh, and to the feuds of his family. His nephew, young Nahar, joined in all his enterprises, from the defence of Kheroda to the escalade and capture of the castle of Lawa, in which he maintained himself until the Rana not only pardoned him, but gave him precedence above his enemies in his own councils.
Lawa was wrested by Sangram Singh Saktawat from Sangram Singh the Dudia, an ancient tribe, but like many others little known, until the incident we are about to relate gave it a momentary gleam of splendour, and afforded the bard an opportunity to emblazon its fame upon his page. Even in these regions, so full of strange vicissitudes, the sudden rise of the Dudia is a favourite topic of the traditional muse of Mewar.
The Dudia Clan.
It was in fact his sovereign, the Rana Jagat Singh, who delighted in the chase, and having that day been bewildered in the intricacies of Naharamagra, had stumbled on the Dudia carle. The latter expressed neither surprise nor delight when introduced to the Rana, and replied to all his questions with the frankness that grows out of the sentiment of honest pride and independence, which never abandons a Rajput, whatever be his condition.[[4]] The Rana was so much pleased with his rustic host, that he commanded a led horse to be brought forth, and desired the Dudia would accompany him to Udaipur, only ten miles distant. ‘The rocket of the moon’[[5]] (Chandrabhan), in his peasant’s garb, bestrode the noble charger with as much ease as if it were habitual to him. The next day the Dudia was conducted to the Presence, and invested with a dress which had been worn by his sovereign (a distinguished mark of royal favour), accompanied with the more solid reward of the grant of Kuwaria and its lands in perpetuity.
Chandrabhan and his benefactor died about the same time. Rana Raj had succeeded to the throne of Mewar, and Sardar Singh, son of Chandrabhan, did personal service for the lands of Kuwaria. It was a source of daily amusement for the prince and his youthful associates to plunge into the fountain at the Saheli-ki-bari,[[6]] a villa about two miles from the capital, on which occasions reserve was banished, and they gave themselves up to unrestrained mirth. The young Dudia had some peculiarities, which made him a butt for their wit. The following incident will show the character of these princely pastimes. It was one day remarked, that when refreshing in the kund, or reservoir, Sardar Singh did not lay aside his turban, which provoked a suspicion that he had no hair. The Rana, impatient to get a peep at the bare head of [608] the son of Chandrabhan, proposed that they should push each other into the water. The sport began, and the Dudia’s turban falling off, disclosed the sad truth. The jest, however, was not relished by Sardar; and he tartly replied, in answer to his sovereign’s question, “what had become of his hair?” that “he had lost it in his service, in a former birth, as Chela,[[7]] by carrying wood upon his head to feed the flame, when his sovereign, as a jogi, or ascetic, performed penance (tapasya) in the hills of Badarinath.” The prince felt that he had violated decorum; but the reply was pregnant with sarcasm, and his dignity must be maintained. “Sardar must bring proof of his assertion, or punishment awaits him,” was the rejoinder. The young chief, in the same lofty tone, offered the evidence of the Deota (divinity) of the temple of Kuwaria. This was a witness whose testimony could not be impugned, and he had leave to bring it forward.
At the village of Gopalpur, attached to his estate of Kuwaria, was a temple of the Bagrawats, a tribe little known, having a shrine of their divinity, who was personified by an image with a tiger’s (bagh) head.[[8]] “He invoked his support on this occasion, when the Deota threw him the flower[[9]] in his hand, and desired him to carry it to his sovereign.” He did so, and the Rana’s faith was too great to dispute the miracle. What honours could suffice for the man who had performed the most meritorious service to his prince in former transmigrations! Mang, ‘ask,’ was the sign of grace and favour. Sangram’s request was governed by moderation; it was for Lawa and its lands, which adjoined his estate at Kuwaria.
The Rana being yet a minor, and the queen-mother at the head of affairs, he hastened to her to be released from the debt of gratitude. But Lawa, unluckily, was held by herself; and although she was not heretic enough to doubt the miraculous tale, she thought the Dudia might have selected any other land but hers, and testily replied to her son’s request, that “he might give him Mewar if he chose.” Displeased at this unaccommodating tone, the prince quickly rejoined, “Mewar shall be his, then.” The word of a prince is sacred; he sent for Sangram, and thus addressed him: “I give you Mewar for the space of three days; make the best use of your time; my arsenals, my armouries, my treasury, my stables, my throne and its ministers, are at your command.”[[10]] The temporary Rana availed himself of this large [609] power, and conveyed to his estate whatever he had a mind to. During the abdication Sardar held his court, though he had too much tact actually to press the cushion of his master; but seated himself on one side of the vacant throne, attended by all the nobles, fully impressed with the sanctity of the individual who had attained such distinction. On the third day the queen-mother sent her son the patent for Lawa; and on the fourth the Dudia surrendered the sceptre.
With the wealth thus acquired, he erected a castle in his domain of Lawa, on which he expended nine lakhs of rupees, about £100,000. He formed a lake; and a single baori or reservoir, in the fort, cost another lakh. He built a splendid palace, whose china and mirror-halls are still the theme of encomium. These were greatly defaced by an explosion of a powder-magazine, which threw down half the fortress that had taken twenty years to complete; and though it underwent considerable repairs, it lost much of its splendour, which the guns of Holkar aided to diminish: but the castle of Lawa is still one of the finest in Mewar. Sardar Singh had also a grant of one of the royal mahalls or palaces of Udaipur, erected on the margin of the lake, after the model of the Jagmandir.[[11]] Although it now belongs to the chief of Amet, it is only recognized as the Dudia-ka-mahall; but its halls are the dwelling of the bat and the owl; the bar[[12]] has taken root in its light, airy porticoes, and its walls have every direction but the perpendicular. Sardar lived twenty years after the erection of Lawa; he died in S. 1838 (A.D. 1782), leaving one son, the heir of his honours and estates. Throughout his long life he lost no portion of the respect paid to his early years; but with him the name of Dudia again sunk into obscurity, or lived but as a memento of the instability of fortune. It was this son who, when driven from Lawa by Sangram Singh Saktawat, had no place of shelter, and died in indigence and obscurity. His son (grandson of Sardar, and great-grandson of the ‘rocket of the moon’) is now patronized by the heir-apparent, Prince Jawan Singh, and receives a daily allowance, but has not a foot of land.
Sangram, the Saktawat, had a regular sanad for the fief of Lawa, which was rated at twenty-three thousand rupees of annual rent, while Kuwaria has reverted to the fisc. The lake of Lawa, which irrigates some thousand acres of rice-land, alone renders it one of the most desirable of the secondary estates of Mewar. Sangram’s children being all murdered in the feud of Sheogarh, he was succeeded by Jai Singh (son [610] of Sheo Singh, his second brother), who was received as kaula, or son of adoption, by all the retainers of Lawa. While Sangram Singh lived, no subdivision of allotments took place; all, to use the words of Man Singh, “ate out of one dish”; and his own father Nahar, who had aided in the enterprise, having by a similar coup de main secured the estate of Banwal for himself, no necessity for such partition existed. But Banwal belonging to the fisc, to which it reverted on the restoration of order in A.D. 1818, young Man had no alternative but to turn round on Jai Singh, the adopted heir of Sangram, and demand his bat, or share of the lands of Lawa, in virtue of the right of joint acquisition, and as a younger brother. Jai Singh refused; but custom prevailed, and the village of Jethpura, of fifteen hundred rupees’ annual revenue, was bestowed upon the son of Nahar Singh. So long as Man Singh performed his duties to his chief, his share of Lawa was irresumable and inalienable: hence the stubborn tenacity of the chiefs of their share in the patrimonial acres, even when holding largely, but separately, of the crown, since of the latter, caprice or intrigue may deprive them; but their own misconduct alone can forfeit their bapota. The simple deed of conveyance will better establish this point!
“Maharao Sri Jai Singh, plighting his faith (bachanaita).
“At this time, Brother Man Singh, I bestow upon thee, of my own free will, the village and lands of Jethpura. This donative shall not look to ranrkas: suput, kuput:[[13]] your issue shall enjoy them. Of this intention I call the four-armed divinity (Chaturbhuj)[[14]] as witness. You are my own child (chhora): wherever and whenever I order, you will do my service: if you fail, the fault be on your own head.”
Case of Mān Singh.
A Foray of the Bhīls.
An Ordeal by Oath.
[1]. [Part of the water-shed of Central India, dividing the drainage into the Bay of Bengal from that of the Gulf of Cambay.]
[3]. Lalji’s issue:
| Sangram. | ───── | Sheo Singh. | ───── | Surthan Singh | |
| │ | │ | │ | |||
| His children massacred | Jai Singh. | Nahar Singh. | |||
| at Sheogarh. | │ | ||||
| Man Singh. | |||||
[4]. In my days of inexperience, when travelling through countries unknown, and desirous to take the first peasant I found as a guide, I have been amused by his announcing to me, before a question was put, “I am a Rajput,” as if in anticipation of the demand and a passport to respect; literally, “I am of royal descent”: a reflection which lends an air of dignity to all his actions, and distinguishes him from every other class.
[5]. [‘Light of the Moon’: a rocket is bān.]
[6]. ‘The nymphs’ parterre’; for the bari is more a flower-garden than one of indiscriminate culture.
[7]. Chela is a phrase which includes servitude or domestic slavery: but implies, at the same time, treatment as a child of the family. Here it denotes that of a servant or disciple.
[8]. [The true form of the clan name is Bagrāwat (Census Report, Rājputāna, 1911, i. 256) which can have no connexion with bāgh, ‘a tiger.’ It is probably derived from the Bāgar waste in Hissār District.]
[9]. That sculptured from the stone is meant.
[10]. [For temporary kings see Frazer, Golden Bough, 3rd ed. Part ix. 151, 403 f.]
[11]. [One of the island palaces, built by Rāna Jagat Singh (A.D. 1628-52).]
[12]. [The banyan, ficus indica.]
[13]. Ranrka is a phrase embracing mental or physical infirmity [meaning ‘a blockhead,’ ‘a ninny,’ from rānd, rānr, ‘a widow,’ a term of contempt]; here strengthened by the words which follow. Suput means ‘worthy,’ or ‘good issue’ (putra), as kuput, the reverse, ‘bad or incompetent issue.’
[14]. [Vishnu.]
[15]. [‘Lord of the World,’ a title of the Rāna of Mewār.]
[16]. One of the queens, a princess of Bikaner.
[17]. The two villages he obtained in lieu of Banwal.
[18]. [About 90 miles N.E. of Udaipur city.]