These Brahmans, the Paliwals, as appears by the Annals of Marwar, held the domain of Pali when Siahji, at the end of the twelfth century, invaded that land from Kanauj, and by an act of treachery first established his power.[[26]] It is evident, however, that he did not extirpate them, for the cause of their migration to the desert of Jaisalmer [287] is attributed to a period of a Muhammadan invasion of Marwar, when a general war-contribution (dand) being imposed on the inhabitants, the Paliwals pleaded caste, and refused. This exasperated the Raja; for as their habits were almost exclusively mercantile, their stake was greater than that of the rest of the community, and he threw their principal men into prison. In order to avenge this, they had recourse to a grand chandni, or ‘act of suicide’; but instead of gaining their object, he issued a manifesto of banishment to every Paliwal in his dominions. The greater part took refuge in Jaisalmer, though many settled in Bikaner, Dhat, and the valley of Sind. At one time their number in Jaisalmer was calculated to equal that of the Rajputs. Almost all the internal trade of the country passes through their hands, and it is chiefly with their capital that its merchants trade in foreign parts. They are the Metayers of the desert, advancing money to the cultivators, taking the security of the crop; and they buy up all the wool and ghi (clarified butter), which they transport to foreign parts. They also rear and keep flocks. The minister, Salim Singh, has contrived to diminish their wealth, and consequently to lose the main support of the country’s prosperity. They are also subject to the visits of the Maldots, Tejmallots, and other plunderers; but they find it difficult to leave the country owing to the restrictive cordon of the Mehta. The Paliwals never marry out of their own tribe; and, directly contrary to the laws of Manu,[[27]] the bridegroom gives a sum of money to the father of the bride. It will be deemed a curious incident in the history of superstition, that a tribe, Brahman by name, at least, should worship the bridle of a horse. When to this is added the fact that the most ancient coins discovered in these regions bear the Pali character and the effigies of the horse, it aids to prove the Scythic character of the early colonists of these regions, who, although nomadic (Pali), were equestrian. There is little doubt that the Paliwal Brahmans are the remains of the priests of the Pali race, who, in their pastoral and commercial pursuits, have lost their spiritual power.[[28]]
Pokharna Brāhmans.
Jats or Jāts.
Castle of Jaisalmer.
[1]. [The State, according to later surveys, lies between 26° 4´ and 28° 23´ N. lat. and 69° 30´ and 72° 42´ E. long., with an area of 16,062 square miles. In 1911 the population amounted to 80,891, that of the capital, Jaisalmer, being 7420. There were 471 villages in the State, the average population of which was even lower than of those in Bikaner.]
[2]. [Rocks of Jurassic age, such as sandstone, shales, and limestone, crop up beneath the sand, and a large area of Nummulitic rock occurs to the N.W. of the capital (IGI, xiv. 1).]
[3]. [Cenchrus catharticus.]
[4]. So Mr. Elphinstone describes the tract about Pugal, one of the earliest possessions of the Bhattis, and one of the Naukotī Maru-ki, or ‘nine castles of the desert,’ around whose sand-hills as brave a colony was reared and maintained as ever carried lance. Rao Raning was lord of Pugal, whose son originated that episode given on p. 733. Even these sand-hills which in November appeared to Mr. Elphinstone without a sign of vegetation, could be made to yield good crops of bajra.
[5]. [About 20 miles N.W. of Jaisalmer city.]