Views from the Aravalli Hills.
However grand the view of the chaotic mass of rock from this elevated site of Kumbhalmer, it is from the plains of Marwar that its majesty is most apparent; where its ‘splintered pinnacles’ are seen rising over each other in varied form, or frowning over the dark indented recesses of its forest-covered and rugged declivities.
On reflection, I am led to pronounce the Aravalli a connexion of the ‘Apennines of India’; the Ghats on the Malabar coast of the peninsula: nor does the passage of the Nerbudda or the Tapti, through its diminished centre, militate against the hypothesis, which might be better substantiated by the comparison of their intrinsic character and structure.
Geology of the Aravallis.
The Aravalli and its subordinate hills are rich in both mineral and metallic products; and, as stated in the annals of Mewar, to the latter alone can be attributed the resources which enabled this family so long to struggle against superior power, and to raise those magnificent structures which would do honour to the most potent kingdoms of the west.
The mines are royalties; their produce a monopoly, increasing the personal revenue of their prince. An-Dan-Khan is a triple figurative expression, which comprehends the sum of sovereign rights in Rajasthan, being allegiance, commercial duties, mines. The tin-mines of Mewar were once very productive, and yielded, it is asserted, no inconsiderable portion of silver: but the caste of miners is extinct, and political reasons, during the Mogul domination, led to the [13] concealment of such sources of wealth. Copper of a very fine description is likewise abundant, and supplies the currency; and the chief of Salumbar even coins by sufferance from the mines on his own estate. Surma, or the oxide of antimony, is found on the western frontier. The garnet, amethystine quartz, rock crystal, the chrysolite, and inferior kinds of the emerald family are all to be found within Mewar; and though I have seen no specimens decidedly valuable, the Rana has often told me that, according to tradition, his native hills contained every species of mineral wealth.
The Patār Plateau.
The circumference of the plateau is best explained in the map, though its surface is most unequally detailed, and is continually alternating its character between the tabular form and clustering ridges.
Commencing the tour of Mandalgarh, let us proceed south, skirting Chitor (both on insulated rocks detached from the plateau), thence by Jawad, Dantoli, Rampura,[[35]] Bhanpura, the Mukunddarra Pass,[[36]] to Gagraun (where the Kali Sind forces an entrance through its table-barrier to Eklera)[[37]] and Margwas (where the Parbati, taking advantage of the diminished elevation, passes from Malwa to Haraoti), and by Raghugarh, Shahabad, Ghazigarh, Gaswani, to Jadonwati, where the plateau terminates on the Chambal, east; while from the same point of outset, Mandalgarh, soon losing much of its table form, it stretches away in bold ranges, occasionally tabular, as in the Bundi fortress, by Dablana, Indargarh,[[38]] and Lakheri,[[38]] to Ranthambhor and Karauli, terminating at Dholpur Bari.
The elevation and inequalities of this plateau are best seen by crossing it from west to east, from the plains to the level of the Chambal, where, with the exception of the short flat between Kotah and Pali ferry, this noble stream is seen rushing through the rocky barrier.