The calm, undaunted valour of the Maharao and his kin could not fail to extort applause from those gallant minds which can admire the bravery of a foe, though few of those who had that day to confront them were aware of the moral courage which sustained their opponents, and which converted their vis inertiae into an almost impassable barrier.
Devotion of Two Hāras.
The entire devotion which the vassalage of Haraoti manifested for the cause of the Maharao, exemplified, as before observed, the nature and extent of swamidharma or fealty, which has been described as the essential quality of the Rajput character; while, at the same time, it illustrates the severity of the regent’s yoke. Even the chief who negotiated the treaty could not resist the defection (one of his sons was badly wounded), although he enjoyed estates under the regent which his hereditary rank did not sanction, besides being connected with him by marriage.
The Maharao gained the Parbati, which, it is said, he swam over. He had scarcely reached the shore when his horse dropped dead from a grape-shot wound. With about three hundred horse he retired upon Baroda. We had no vengeance to execute; we could not, therefore, consider the brave men, who abandoned their homes and their families from a principle of honour, in the light of the old enemies of our power, to be pursued and exterminated. They had, it is true, confronted us in the field; yet only defensively, in a cause at least morally just and seemingly sanctioned by authorities which they could not distrust.
Reflections on the Outbreak.
The Maharao continued his course to Nathdwara in Mewar, proving that the sentiment of religious abstraction alone can take the place of ambition. The individuals who, for their own base purposes, had by misrepresentation and guile guided him to ruin, now deserted him; the film fell from his eyes, and he saw, though too late, the only position in which he could exist. In a very short time every pretension inimical to the spirit and letter of the treaty, original and supplemental, was relinquished; when, with the regent’s concurrence, a note was transmitted to him, containing the basis on which his return to Kotah was practicable. A transcript with his acceptance being received, a formal deed was drawn up, executed by the Agent and attested by the regent, not only defining the precise position of both parties, but establishing a barrier between the titular and executive authorities, which must for ever prevent all collision of interests; nothing was left to chance or cavil. The grand object was to provide for the safety, comfort, and dignity of the prince, and this was done on a scale of profuse liberality; far beyond what his father, or indeed any prince of Kotah had enjoyed, and incommensurate with the revenue of the State, of which it is about the twentieth portion. The amount equals the household expenditure of the Rana of Udaipur, the avowed head of the whole Rajput race, but which can be better afforded from the flourishing revenues of Kotah than the slowly improving finances of Mewar.
Restoration of the Mahārāo.
This last scene being over, the Maharao left his retreat at the fane of Kanhaiya, and marched across the plateau to his paternal domains. On the last day of the year the regent, accompanied by the Agent, advanced to reconduct the prince to the capital. The universal demonstration of satisfaction at his return was the most convincing testimony that any other course would have been erroneous. On that day he once more took possession of the gaddi which he had twice abandoned, with a resignation free from all asperity, or even embarrassment. Feelings arising out of a mind accustomed to religious meditation, aided while they softened the bitter monitor, adversity, and together they afforded the best security that any deviation from the new order of things would never proceed from him.
Arrangements with the Mahārāo.
The Agent remained an entire month after this, to strengthen the good understanding now introduced. He even effected a reconciliation between the prince and Madho Singh, when the former, with great tact and candour, took upon himself the blame of all these disturbances; each gave his hand in token of future amity, and the prince spontaneously embraced the man (the regent’s son) to whom he attributed all his misery. But the Maharao’s comforts and dignity are now independent of control, and watched over by a guardian who will demand a rigid exaction of every stipulation in his favour. The patriarchal Zalim was, or affected to be, overjoyed at this result, which had threatened to involve them all in the abyss of misery. Bitter was his self-condemnation at the moral blindness of his conduct, which had not foreseen and guarded against the storm; and severe, as well as merited, was the castigation he inflicted on his successor. “It is for your sins, son, that I am punished,” was the conclusion of every such exhortation.