The planets were adverse to my happy conjunction with the Sun of the Hindus: and it was determined that I should pass another day amongst the tombs of Ahar; but I invoked upon my own devoted head all the evil consequences, as in this case I was the only person who was threatened. To render this opposition to the decree less noxious, it was agreed that I should make my entrée by the southern, not by the eastern porte, that of the sun. The Rana came, attended by his son, his chiefs, his ministers, and, in fact, all the capital in his train. The most hearty welcomes were lavished upon us all. “Rama! Rama! Tod Sahib!” (the Hindu greeting) resounded from a thousand throats, while I addressed each chief by name. It was not a meeting of formality, but of well-cemented friendship. My companions, Captain Waugh and Dr. Duncan, were busy interchanging smiles and cordial greetings, when the Rana, requesting our presence at the palace next day [795], bade us adieu. He took the direct road to his palace, while we, to avoid evil spirits, made a detour by the southern portal, to gain our residence, the garden of Rampiyari.
BRIDGE OF NŪRĀBĀD.
To face page 914.
[1]. See Archbishop Potter’s Archaeologia, vol. i. p. 192. [Cicero, De Legibus, ii. 25, 26; Grote, Hist. of Greece, ed. 1869, xii. 184.]
[2]. [Fergusson (Hist. Indian Arch. ii. 210 f.) says it was begun in A.D. 1200, and completed during the reign of Iyaltimish (1211-36). The temple may have been originally Jain, but it had been altered by Hindus.]
[3]. [Cunningham searched in vain for the Sanskrit inscription. “I am inclined to believe that Tod may have mistaken some of the square Cufic writing for ancient Sanskrit. It is, indeed, possible that the square Cufic inscription which records the building of the mosque in A.H. 596 (A.D. 1200) may once have occupied the position described by Tod over the apex of the central arch” (ASR, ii. 262 f.).]
[4]. [“It is certain that they are not Jain pillars, as I found many four-armed figures sculptured on them, besides a single figure of the skeleton goddess, Kāli” (ibid. 259).]
[5]. Both epithets imply ‘Lord of the Universe,’ [?] and of which the name of Prithiraj, that of the last Chauhan emperor, is another version.
[6]. Chance obtained me the drawing of this temple; I wish it had also given me the name of its author to grace the page.