[26]. A.D. 1740.
[27]. [Near Pānipat, February 13, 1739 (Elphinstone 717).]
[28]. It is yet pointed out to the visitor of this famed city. [The Golden Mosque of Roshanu-d-daula (Fanshawe, Delhi Past and Present, 50).]
[29]. [This is not certain. Many officials committed suicide, and Sa’ādat Khān was believed to have been among these: it is certain that he died the night before the massacre (Keene, Sketch Hist. Hindustan, 324).]
[30]. As the hour of departure approached, the cruelties of the ruthless invaders increased, to which the words of the narrator, an eye-witness, can alone do justice: "A type of the last day afflicted the inhabitants of this once happy city; hitherto it was a general massacre, but now came the murder of individuals. In every house was heard the cry of affliction. Basant Rae, agent for pensions, killed his family and himself; Khalik Yar Khan stabbed himself; many took poison. The venerable chief magistrate was dishonoured by stripes; sleep and rest forsook the city. The officers of the court were beaten without mercy, and a fire broke out in the imperial farash-khana, and destroyed effects to the amount of a crore (a million sterling). There was a scarcity of grain, two seers of coarse rice sold for a rupee, and from a pestilential disorder crowds died daily in every street and lane. The inhabitants, like the affrighted animals of the desert, sought refuge in the most concealed corners. Yet four or five crores (millions) more were thus extracted." On the 5th April, Nadir’s seals were taken off the imperial repositories, and his farmans sent to all the feudatories of the empire to notify the place and to inculcate obedience ‘to his dear brother,’ which, as a specimen of eastern diplomatic phraseology, is worth insertion. It was addressed to the Rana, the Rajas of Marwar and Amber, Nagor, Satara, the Peshwa Bajirao, etc. “Between us and our dear brother, Muhammad Shah, in consideration of the regard and alliances of the two sovereigns, the connexions of regard and friendship have been renewed, so that we may be esteemed as one soul in two bodies. Now our dear brother has been replaced on the throne of this extensive empire, and we are moving to the conquest of other regions, it is incumbent that ye, like your forefathers, walk in the path of submission and obedience to our dear brother, as they did to former sovereigns of the house of Timur. God forbid it; but if accounts of your rebelling should reach our ears, we will blot you out of the pages of the book of creation” (‘Memoirs of Iradat Khan,’ Scott’s History of Dekhan, vol. ii. p. 213).
[31]. Bikaner and Kishangarh arose out of Marwar, and Macheri from Amber; to which we might add Shaikhavati, which, though not separate, is tributary to Amber (now Jaipur).
[32]. A.D. 1735.
[33]. These documents are interesting, if merely showing the high respect paid by every Rajput prince to the Ranas of Mewar, and illustrating what is recorded in the reign of Partap, who abjured all intercourse with them.
No. 1.
"From Kunwar Bijai Singh of Marwar to the Maharana Sri-Sri-Sri.