Ajīt Singh’s Heir received at the Imperial Court.
The Murder of Ajīt Singh, A.D. 1724.
“Abhai, a second Ajit, was introduced to the Aspati; his father heard the news and rejoiced. But this world is a fable—a lie. Time will sooner or later prey on all things. What king, what raja can avoid the path leading to extinction? The time allotted for our sojourn here is predetermined; prolong it we cannot. The decree penned by the hand of the Creator is engraven upon each forehead at the hour of birth. Neither addition nor subtraction can be made. Fate (honhar) must be fulfilled. It was the command of Govinda[[40]] that Ajit (the Avatar of Indra) should obtain immortality, and leave his renown in the world beneath. Ajit, so long a thorn in the side of his foe, was removed to Parloka.[[41]] He kept afloat the faith of the Hindu, and sunk the Muslim in shame. In the face of day, the lord of Maru took the road which leads to Paradise (Vaikuntha). Then dismay seized the city; each looked with dread in his neighbour’s face as he said, ‘Our sun has set!’ But when the day of Yamaraj[[42]] arrives, who can retard it? Were not the five Pandus enclosed in the mansion of Himala?[[43]] Harchand escaped not the universal decree; nor will gods, men, or reptiles avoid it, not even Vikrama or Kama; all fall before Yama. How then could Ajit hope to escape?
“On Asarh, the 13th, the dark half of the moon of 1780, seventeen hundred warriors of the eight ranks of Maru, for the last time marched before their lord.[[44]] They placed his body in a boat,[[45]] and carried him to the pyre,[[46]] made of sandal-wood and perfumes, with heaps of cotton, oil, and camphor. But this is a subject of grief: how can the bard enlarge on such a theme? The Nazir went to the Rawala[[47]] and as he pronounced the words ‘Rao siddhi āyē,’ the Chauhani queen, with sixteen damsels in her suite, came forth: ‘This day,’ said she, ‘is one of joy; my race shall be illustrated; our lives have passed together, how then can I leave him?’[[48]]
The Sati.
“The drum sounded; the funeral train moved on; all invoked the name of [94] Hari.[[58]] Charity was dispensed like falling rain, while the countenances of the queens were radiant as the sun. From heaven Uma[[59]] looked down; in recompense of such devotion she promised they should enjoy the society of Ajit in each successive transmigration. As the smoke, emitted from the house of flame, ascended to the sky, the assembled multitudes shouted Kaman! Kaman! ‘Well done! Well done!’ The pile flamed like a volcano; the faithful queens laved their bodies in the flames, as do the celestials in the lake of Manasarovar.[[60]] They sacrificed their bodies to their lord, and illustrated the races whence they sprung. The gods above exclaimed, ‘Dhan Dhan[[61]] Ajit! who maintained the faith, and overwhelmed the Asuras.’ Savitri, Gauri, Sarasvati, Ganga, and Gomati[[62]] united in doing honour to these faithful queens. Forty-five years, three months, and twenty-two days, was the space of Ajit’s existence, when he went to inhabit Amarapura, an immortal abode!”
Character of Ajīt Singh.
The prodigality with which every clan lavished its blood, through a space of six-and-twenty years, may in part be learned from the chronicle; and in yet more forcible language from the cenotaphs scattered over the country, erected to the manes of those who fell in this religious warfare. Were other testimony required, it is to be found in the annals of their neighbours and their conquerors; while the traditional couplets of the bards, familiar to every Rajput, embalm the memory of the exploits of their forefathers.
Ajit was a prince of great vigour of mind as well as of frame. Valour was his inheritance; he displayed this hereditary quality at the early age of eleven, when he visited his enemy in his capital, displaying a courtesy which can only be comprehended by a Rajput. Amongst the numerous desultory actions, of which many occurred every year, there were several in which the whole strength of the Rathors was led by their prince. The battle of Sambhar, in S. 1765, fought against the Sayyids, which ended in a union of interests, was one of these; and, for the rest of Ajit’s life, kept him in close contact with the court, where he might have taken the lead had his talent for intrigue been commensurate with his boldness. From this period until his death, Ajit’s agency was recognized in all the intrigues and changes amongst the occupants of Timur’s throne, from Farrukhsiyar to Muhammad. He inherited an invincible hatred to the very name of Muslim, and was not scrupulous regarding the means by which he was likely to secure the extirpation of a race so inimical to his own. Viewing the manifold reasons for this hatred, we must not scrutinize with severity his actions when leagued with the Sayyids, even in the dreadful catastrophe which overwhelmed Farrukhsiyar, to whom he owed the twofold duty of fealty and consanguinity.