He laid waste, filling up the wells, a considerable tract of country west of the frontier post of Anupgarh, to prevent the incursions of the Daudputras.[[32]]
Raja Gaj had some celebrity from the number of his offspring, having had sixty-one children, though all but six were the ‘sons of love.’ The legitimates were, Chhattar Singh, who died in infancy; Raj Singh, who was poisoned by the mother of Surat Singh, the reigning prince; Surthan Singh and Ajib Singh, both of whom fled the paternal roof to escape the fate of their elder brother, and are now at Jaipur; Surat Singh, Raja of Bikaner; and Shyam Singh, who enjoys a small appanage in Bikaner.
Rāj Singh, A.D. 1788.
Partāp Singh, A.D. 1788. Usurpation of Sūrat Singh.
By this act of severity, and the means it furnished, Surat returned to Bikaner, determined to remove the only bar between him and the crown, his prince and nephew. In this he found some difficulty, from the virtue and vigilance of his sister, who never lost sight of the infant. Frustrated in all attempts to circumvent her, and not daring to blazon the murder by open violence, he invited the needy Raja of Narwar to make proposals for his sister’s hand. In vain she urged her advanced period of life; and in order to deter the suitor, that she had already been affianced to Rana Arsi of Mewar. All his scruples vanished at the dower of three lakhs, which the regent offered [191] the impoverished scion of the famous Raja Nala.[[36]] Her objections were overruled and she was forced to submit; though she not only saw through her brother’s anxiety for her removal, but boldly charged him with his nefarious intentions. He was not content with disavowing them, but at her desire gave her the most solemn assurances of the child’s safety. Her departure was the signal of his death; for not long after he was found strangled, and it is said by the regent’s own hands, having in vain endeavoured to obtain the offices of the Mahajan chieftain as the executioner of his sovereign.
Sūrat Singh, A.D. 1788-1828.
Flushed with this brilliant success, Surat Singh determined to make his authority respected both at home and abroad. He invaded his turbulent countrymen, the Bidawats, and levied fifty thousand rupees from their lands. Churu,[[37]] which had promised aid to the late confederacy, was once more invested and mulcted, and various other places were attacked ere they could join. But one solitary castle was successfully defended, that of Chhani, near Bahaduran. Here the usurper was foiled, and, after six months’ fruitless siege, compelled to return to his capital.
Shortly after, he eagerly availed himself of an opportunity to punish the excesses of the Daudputras, and to withdraw attention from himself, by kindling a popular war against these powerful and turbulent neighbours. The occasion was the Kirani chief of Tirhara demanding his aid against his liege lord, Bahawal Khan. As these border feuds are not extinguished even in these days of universal peace, it may not be uninteresting to see the feudal muster-roll of the desert chiefs on such occurrences, as well as the mode in which they carry on hostilities. It was very shortly before that victory had preponderated on the side of the Rathors by a gallant coup-de-main of [192] the lord marcher of Bikaner, who carried the castle of Mozgarh[[38]] in a midnight assault. The hero on this occasion was not a Rathor, but a Bhatti chief, in the service of Bikaner, named Hindu Singh, who gained ‘immortality’ by the style in which he scaled the walls, put Muhammad Maaruf Kirani, the governor, and the garrison to the sword, and brought away captive to Bikaner the governor’s wife, who was afterwards ransomed for five thousand rupees and four hundred camels.
The outlaw who sought saran at Bikaner, on this occasion, was of the same tribe, Kirani, his name Khudabakhsh (‘gift of God’), chief of Tirhara, one of the principal fiefs of the Daudputras. With all his retainers, to the amount of three hundred horse and five hundred foot, he threw himself on the protection of Surat Singh, who assigned him twenty villages, and one hundred rupees daily for his support. The Kiranis were the most powerful vassals of Bahawal Khan, who might have paid dear for the resumption of Tirhara, whose chief promised the Rajput nothing less than to extend his conquests to the Indus. Allured by this bait, the Kher was proclaimed and the sons of Bika assembled from all quarters.
| Horse. | Foot. | Guns. | ||||||
| Abhai Singh, chief of | Bhukarka | 300 | 2000 | |||||
| Rao Ram Singh, of | Pugal | 100 | 400 | |||||
| Hathi Singh, of | Raner | 8 | 150 | |||||
| Karan Singh, of | Satasar | 9 | 150 | |||||
| Anup Singh, of | Jasara | 40 | 250 | |||||
| Khet Singh, of | Jamansar | 60 | 350 | |||||
| Beni Singh, of | Janglu | 9 | 250 | |||||
| Bhum Singh, of | Bithnok | 2 | 61 | |||||
| Feudal retainers | 528 | 3611 | ||||||
| Park under Maji Parihar | — | 21 | ||||||
| Foreign Brigade in the Raja’s service. |  | Khas Paiga, or household troop | 200 | — | ||||
| Camp of Ganga Singh | 200 | 1500 | 4 | |||||
| Do. of Durjan Singh | 60 | 600 | 4 | |||||
| Auxiliary Levies. |  | Anoka Singh |  | Sikh chieftains | 300 | — | ||
| Lahori Singh | 250 | — | ||||||
| Budh Singh | 250 | — | ||||||
| Sultan Khan |  | Afghans | 400 | — | ||||
| Ahmad Khan | ||||||||
| Total | 2188 | 5711 | 29 | |||||
| [193]. | ||||||||