[1]. Anhal [anal] and Agni have the same signification, namely, ‘fire.’
[2]. Yuga-Raj, ‘sacrifice of the government.’ [Possibly confused with Yuvarāja, ‘heir-apparent.’]
[3]. [Durlabha Chaulukya of Gujarāt went on a pilgrimage and abdicated. “Such a resignation of royal state seems to have been a constant practice in ancient times, the Rājput princes esteeming a death in the holy land of Gaya as the safe passage to beatitude” (Forbes, Rāsmāla, 54). A defeated king was required to resign his throne (Elliot-Dowson ii. 27). See Frazer, Golden Bough, 3rd ed. Part iii. 148 ff.]
[4]. Harraj (elder son of Dewa), lord of Bumbaoda, had twelve sons; of whom Alu Hara, the eldest, held twenty-four castles upon the Patar. With all of these the author is familiar, having trod the Patar in every direction: of this, anon.
[5]. [This is a folk etymology, the real name of the Bhīl sept being Khota.] The descendants of Jethsi retained the castle and the surrounding country for several generations; when Bhonangsi, the fifth in descent, was dispossessed of them by Rao Surajmall of Bundi. Jethsi had a son, Surjan, who gave the name of Kotah to this abode of the Bhils, round which he built a wall. His son Dhirdeo excavated twelve lakes, and dammed up that east of the town, still known by his name, though better by its new appellation of Kishor Sagar.[Sagar.] His son was Kandhal, who had Bhonangsi, who lost and regained Kotah in the following manner. Kotah was seized by two Pathans, Dhakar and Kesar Khan. Bhonang, who became mad from excessive use of wine and opium, was banished to Bundi, and his wife, at the head of his household vassals, retired to Kaithan, around which the Haras held three hundred and sixty villages. Bhonang, in exile, repented of his excesses; he announced his amendment and his wish to return to his wife and kin.[kin.] The intrepid Rajputni rejoiced at his restoration, and laid a plan for the recovery of Kotah, in which she destined him to take part. To attempt it by force would have been to court destruction, and she determined to combine stratagem and courage. When the jocund festival of spring approached, when even decorum is for a while cast aside in the Rajput Saturnalia, she invited herself, with all the youthful damsels of Kaithan, to play the Holi with the Pathans of Kotah. The libertine Pathans received the invitation with joy, happy to find the queen of Kaithan evince so much amity. Collecting three hundred of the finest Hara youths, she disguised them in female apparel, and Bhonang, attended by the old nurse, each with a vessel of the crimson abir, headed the band. While the youths were throwing the crimson powder amongst the Pathans, the nurse led Bhonang to play with their chief. The disguised Hara broke his vessel on the head of Kesar Khan. This was the signal for action: the Rajputs drew their swords from beneath their ghaghras (petticoats), and the bodies of Kesar and his gang strewed the terrace. The masjid of Kesar Khan still exists within the walls. Bhonang was succeeded by his son Dungarsi, whom Rao Surajmall dispossessed and added Kotah to Bundi.
[6]. [About 60 miles S.W. of Ajmer city.]
[7]. “Poor dumb mouths.”
[8]. [‘Lord of the Hindu,’ a title assumed by the Rānas of Mewār.]
[9]. [This was probably, as in the cases of Dhār and Amber, a form of sympathetic magic to ensure the capture of Būndi.]