"‘The most high God has been propitious to us, and has now placed us in such a crisis, that if we fall in the field we die the death of martyrs; if we survive, we rise victorious, the avengers of the cause of God. Let us, then, with one accord, swear on God’s holy word, that none of us will even think of turning his face from this warfare, nor desert from the battle and slaughter that ensues, till his soul is separated from his body.’
“Master and servant, small and great, all with emulation, seizing the blessed Koran in their hands, swore in the form that I had given. My plan succeeded to admiration, and its effects were instantly visible far and near, on friend and foe” (Memoirs of Baber, p. 357).
[12]. Babur says, “Although Rana Sanka (Sanga) the Pagan, when I was at Cabul, sent me ambassadors, and had arranged with me that if I would march upon Delhi he would on Agra; but when I took Delhi and Agra, the Pagan did not move” (Memoirs of Baber, p. 339).
[13]. In the translation of Babur’s Memoirs, Udai Singh is styled ‘Wali of the country,’ confounding him with Udai Singh, successor of Sanga. He was Wali (sovereign) of Dungarpur, not ‘Oodipoor,’ which was not then in existence. [Erskine, in his later work (Hist. India, i. 473, note), admits his error.]
[14]. [A list of the slain, nearly identical, is given by Abu-l Fazl, Akbarnāma, i. 265.]
[15]. [The author confuses Hasan Khān, Mewāti, an important officer (Ferishta ii. 55; Bayley, Muhammad Dynasties of Gujarāt, 278), whom Badaoni (Muntakhabu-l-tawārīkh, i. 447) calls a Jogi in form and appearance, with Hasan Khān, Lodi (Āīn, i. 503).]
[16]. [About eighty-five miles north-north-west of Jaipur city. Bābur says that he intended to pursue Sanga to Chitor, but was prevented by the defeat of his forces advancing on Lucknow (Elliot-Dowson iv. 277).]
[17]. The number of queens is determined only by state necessity and the fancy of the prince. To have them equal in number to the days of the week is not unusual, while the number of handmaids is unlimited. It will be conceded that the prince who can govern such a household, and maintain equal rights when claims to pre-eminence must be perpetually asserted, possesses no little tact. The government of the kingdom is but an amusement compared with such a task, for it is within the Rawala that intrigue is enthroned.
[18]. I possess his portrait, given to me by the present Rana, who has a collection of full-lengths of all his royal ancestors, from Samarsi to himself, of their exact heights and with every bodily peculiarity, whether of complexion or form. They are valuable for the costume. He has often shown them to me while illustrating their actions.
[19]. [The practice of sending his sword to represent the bridegroom probably originated in the desire for secrecy, and has since been observed, as among the Rāj Gonds of the Central Provinces, for the sake of convenience, and in order to avoid expense (Forbes, Rāsmāla, 624; BG, ix. Part i. 143, 145 f.; Russell, Tribes and Castes, Central Provinces, iii. 77).]