[8]. "Private Treaty between the Rana and Shah Alam Bahadur Shah, and bearing his sign-manual.
"Six articles of engagement, just, and tending to the happiness of the people, have been submitted by you, and by me accepted, and with God’s blessing shall be executed without deviation—
"1. The re-establishment of Chitor as in the time of Shah Jahan.
"2. Prohibition of kine-killing.[[A]]
"3. The restoration of all the districts held in the reign of Shah Jahan.
"4. Freedom of faith and religious worship, as during the government of him whose nest is Paradise (Akbar).
"5. Whoever shall be dismissed by you shall receive no countenance from the king.
“6. The abrogation of the contingent for the service of the Deccan.”[[B]]
[A]. From the second of these articles, which alternate between stipulations of a temporal and spiritual nature, we may draw a lesson of great political importance. In all the treaties which have come under my observation, the insertion of an article against the slaughter of kine was prominent. This sacrifice to their national prejudices was the subject of discussion with every ambassador when the States of Rajasthan formed engagements with the British Government in 1817-18, “the prohibition of kine-killing within their respective limits.” From the construction of our armies we could not guarantee this article, but assurances were given that every practical attention would be paid to their wishes; and kine are not absolutely slain within the jurisdiction of any of these Rajput princes. But even long habit, though it has familiarized, has not reconciled them to this revolting sacrifice; nor would the kine-killer in Mewar be looked upon with less detestation than was Cambyses by the Egyptians, when he thrust his lance into the flank of Apis. But in time this will be overlooked, and the verbal assurance will become a dead letter; men of good intention will be lulled into the belief that, because not openly combated, the prejudice is extinct, and that homage to our power has obliterated this article of their creed. Thus Aurangzeb thought, but he avowedly and boldly opposed the religious opinions of his tributaries; we only hold them in contempt, and even protect them when productive of no sacrifice. Yet if we look back on the early page of history, we shall find both policy and benevolence combined to form this legislative protection to one of the most useful of domestic animals, and which would tempt the belief that Triptolemus, the lawgiver of Sparta, had borrowed from Manu [Laws, xi. 60, 69, 71], or rather from the still greater friends of dumb creatures, the Jains, in the law which exempted not only the lordly bull from the knife, but “every living thing.”
[B]. The Mewar contingent had been serving under Azam in the south, as the following letter from him to the Rana discloses:—“Be it known to Rana Amra Singh, your arzi [petition] arrived, and the accounts of your mother gave me great grief, but against the decrees of God there is no struggling. Pray for my welfare. Raja Rae Singh made a request for you; you are my own; rest in full confidence and continue in your obedience. The lands of your illustrious ancestors shall all be yours—but this is the time to evince your duty—the rest learn from your own servants—continue to think of me.”