In the construction of this map I had many fixed points, both of Dr. Hunter’s and my own, to work from; and it is gratifying to observe that though several measured lines have since been run through this space, not only the general, but often the identical features of mine have been preserved in the maps since given to the world. As considerable improvement has been made by several measured lines through this tract, and many positions affixed by a scientific and zealous geographer, I have had no hesitation in incorporating a small portion of this improved geography in the map now presented.[[17]]
Many surveyed lines were made by me from 1817 to 1822; and here I express my obligations to my kinsman,[[18]] to whom alone I owe any aid for improving this portion of my geographical labours. This officer made a circuitous survey, which comprehended nearly the extreme points of Mewar, from the capital, by Chitor, Mandalgarh, Jahazpur, Rajmahall, and in return by Banai, Badnor, Deogarh [8], to the point of outset. From these extreme points he was enabled to place many intermediate ones, for which Mewar is so favourable, by reason of its isolated hills.
In 1820 I made an important journey across the Aravalli, by Kumbhalmer, Pali, to Jodhpur, the capital of Marwar, and thence by Merta, tracing the course of the Luni to its source at Ajmer; and from this celebrated residence of the Chauhan kings and Mogul emperors; returning through the central lands of Mewar, by Banai and Banera, to the capital.
I had the peculiar satisfaction to find that my position of Jodhpur, which has been used as a capital point in fixing the geography west and north, was only 3´ of space out in latitude, and little more in longitude; which accounted for the coincidence of my position of Bikaner with that assigned by Mr. Elphinstone in his account of the embassy to Kabul.
Besides Udaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer, etc., whose positions I had fixed by observations, and the points laid down by Hunter, I availed myself of a few positions given to me by that enterprising traveller, the author of the journey into Khorasan,[[19]] who marched from Delhi, by Nagor and Jodhpur, to Udaipur.
The outline of the countries of Gujarat,[[20]] the Saurashtra peninsula, and Cutch, inserted chiefly by way of connexion, is entirely taken from the labours of that distinguished geographer, the late General Reynolds. We had both gone over a great portion of the same field, and my testimony is due to the value of his researches in countries into which he never personally penetrated, evincing what may be done by industry, and the use of such materials as I have described.
Physiography of Rājputāna.
Rajasthan presents a great variety of feature. Let me place the reader on the highest peak of the insulated Abu, ‘the saint’s pinnacle,’[[21]] as it is termed, and guide his eye in a survey over this wide expanse, from the ‘blue waters’ of the Indus west to the ‘withy-covered’[[22]] Betwa on the east. From this, the most [9] elevated spot in Hindustan, overlooking by fifteen hundred feet the Aravalli mountains, his eye descends to the plains of Medpat[[23]] (the classic term for Mewar), whose chief streams, flowing from the base of the Aravalli, join the Berach and Banas, and are prevented from uniting with the Chambal only by the Patar[[24]] or plateau of Central India.
Ascending this plateau near the celebrated Chitor, let the eye deviate slightly from the direct eastern line, and pursue the only practicable path by Ratangarh, and Singoli, to Kotah, and he will observe its three successive steppes, the miniature representation of those of Russian Tartary. Let the observer here glance across the Chambal and traverse Haraoti to its eastern frontier, guarded by the fortress of Shahabad: thence abruptly descend the plateau to the level of the Sind, still proceeding eastward, until the table-mountain, the western limit of Bundelkhand, affords a resting-point.
To render this more distinct, I present a profile of the tract described from Abu to Kotra on the Betwa:[[25]] from Abu to the Chambal, the result of barometrical measurement, and from the latter to the Betwa from my general observations[[26]] of the irregularities of surface. The result is, that the Betwa at Kotra is one thousand feet above the sea-level, and one thousand lower than the city and valley of Udaipur, which again is on the same level with the base of Abu, two thousand feet above the sea. This line, the general direction of which is but a short distance from the tropic, is about six geographic degrees in length: yet is this small space highly diversified, both in its inhabitants and the production of the soil, whether hidden or revealed.