CHAPTER 17

=Rāna Bhīm Singh, A.D. 1778-1828.=—Rana Bhim Singh (the reigning

prince), who succeeded his brother in S. 1834 (A.D. 1778), was the

fourth minor in the space of forty years who inherited Mewar; and the

half century during which he has occupied the throne has been as

fruitful in disaster as any period of her history already recorded. He

was but eight years of age on his accession, and remained under his

mother’s tutelage long after his minority had expired. This subjection

fixed his character; naturally defective in energy, and impaired by long

misfortune, he continued to be swayed by faction and intrigue. The cause

of the Pretender, though weakened, was yet kept alive; but his

insignificance eventually left him so unsupported, that his death is not

even recorded [440].

=Feud of Chondāwats and Saktāwats.=—In S. 1840 (A.D. 1784) the

Chondawats reaped the harvest of their allegiance and made the power

thus acquired subservient to the indulgence of ancient animosities

against the rival clan of Saktawat. Salumbar with his relatives Arjun

Singh[4.17.1] of Kurabar and Partap Singh[4.17.2] of Amet, now ruled the

councils, having the Sindi mercenaries under their leaders Chandan and

Sadik at their command. Mustering therefore all the strength of their

kin and clans, they resolved on the prosecution of the feud, and

invested Bhindar, the castle of Mohkam the chief of the Saktawats,

against which they placed their batteries.

Sangram Singh, a junior branch of the Saktawats, destined to play a

conspicuous part in the future events of Mewar, was then rising into

notice, and had just completed a feud with his rival the Purawat, whose

abode, Lawa,[4.17.3] he had carried by escalade; and now, determined to

make a diversion in favour of his chief, he invaded the estate of

Kurabar, engaged against Bhindar, and was driving off the cattle, when

Salim Singh the heir of Kurabar intercepted his retreat, and an action

ensued in which Salim[4.17.4] was slain by the lance of Sangram. The

afflicted father, on hearing the fate of his son, ‘threw the turban off

his head,’ swearing never to replace it till he had tasted revenge.

Feigning a misunderstanding with his own party he withdrew from the

siege, taking the road to his estate, but suddenly abandoned it for

Sheogarh, the residence of Lalji the father of Sangram. The castle of

Sheogarh, placed amidst the mountains and deep forests of Chappan, was

from its difficulty of access deemed secure against surprise; and here

Sangram had placed the females and children of his family. To this point

Arjun directed his revenge, and found Sheogarh destitute of defenders

save the aged chief; but though seventy summers had whitened his head,

he bravely met the storm, and fell in opposing the foe; when the

children of Sangram were dragged [441] out and inhumanly butchered, and

the widow[4.17.5] of Lalji ascended the pyre. This barbarity aggravated

the hostility which separated the clans, and together with the minority

of their prince and the yearly aggressions of the Mahrattas, accelerated

the ruin of the country. But Bhim Singh, the Chondawat leader, was

governed by insufferable vanity, and not only failed in respect to his

prince, but offended the queen regent. He parcelled out the crown domain

from Chitor to Udaipur amongst the Sindi bands, and whilst his sovereign

was obliged to borrow money to defray his marriage at Idar, this

ungrateful noble had the audacity to disburse upwards of £100,000 on the

marriage of his own daughter. Such conduct determined the royal mother

to supplant the Chondawats, and calling in the Saktawats to her aid, she

invested with power the chiefs of Bhindar and Lawa. Aware, however, that

their isolated authority was insufficient to withstand their rivals,

they looked abroad for support, and made an overture to Zalim Singh of

Kotah, whose political and personal resentments to the Chondawats, as

well as his connexion by marriage with their opponents, made him readily

listen to it. With his friend the Mahratta, Lalaji Belal, he joined the

Saktawats with a body of 10,000 men. It was determined to sacrifice the

Salumbar chief, who took post in the ancient capital of Chitor, where

the garrison was composed chiefly of Sindis, thus effacing his claim to

his prince’s gratitude, whom he defied, while the pretender still had a

party in the other principal fortress, Kumbhalmer.

[Illustration:

MAHĀRĀJA BHĪM SINGH, PRINCE OF UDAIPUR.

_To face page 512._

]

=Battle of Lālsot, May 1787.=—Such was the state of things, when the

ascendancy of Mahadaji Sindhia received a signal check from the combined

forces of Marwar and Jaipur; and the battle of Lalsot, in which the

Mahratta chief was completely defeated, was the signal for the Rajputs

to resume their alienated territory.[4.17.6] Nor was the Rana backward

on the occasion, when there appeared a momentary gleam of the active

virtue of past days. Maldas Mehta was civil minister, with Mauji Ram as

his deputy, both men of talent and energy. They first effected the

reduction of Nimbahera and the smaller garrisons of Mahrattas in its

vicinity, who from a sense of common danger assembled their detachments

in Jawad, which was also invested. Sivaji Nana, the governor,

capitulated, and was allowed to march out with his [442] effects. At the

same time, the ‘sons of the black cloud’[4.17.7] assembling, drove the

Mahrattas from Begun, Singoli, etc., and the districts on the plateau;

while the Chondawats redeemed their ancient fief of Rampura, and thus

for a while the whole territory was recovered. Elated by success, the

united chiefs advanced to Chardu on the banks of the Rarkia, a streamlet

dividing Mewar from Malwa, preparatory to further operations. Had these

been confined to the maintenance of the places they had taken, and which

had been withheld in violation of treaties, complete success might have

crowned their efforts; but in including Nimbahera in their capture they

drew upon them the energetic Ahalya Bai, the regent-queen of the Holkar

State, who unluckily for them was at hand and who coalesced with

Sindhia’s partisans to check this reaction of the Rajputs. Tulaji

Sindhia and Sri Bhai, with five thousand horse, were ordered to support

the discomfited Siva Nana, who had taken refuge in Mandasor, where he

rallied all the garrisons whom the Rajputs had unwisely permitted to

capitulate.

=Defeat of the Rājputs. Murder of Somji.=—On Tuesday, the 4th of Magh S.

1844,[4.17.8] the Rana’s troops were surprised and defeated with great

slaughter, the minister slain, the chiefs of Kanor and Sadri with many

others severely wounded, and the latter made prisoner.[4.17.9] The newly

made conquests were all rapidly lost, with the exception of Jawad, which

was gallantly maintained for a month by Dip Chand, who, with his guns

and rockets, effected a passage through the Mahrattas, and retired with

his garrison to Mandalgarh. Thus terminated an enterprise which might

have yielded far different results but for a misplaced security. All the

chiefs and clans were united in this patriotic struggle except the

Chondawats, against whom the queen-mother and the new minister, Somji,

had much difficulty to contend for the establishment of the minor’s

authority. At length overtures were made to Salumbar, when the fair

Rampiyari was employed to conciliate the obdurate chief, who

condescended to make his appearance at Udaipur and to pay his respects

to the prince. He pretended to enter into the views of the minister and

to coalesce in his plans; but this was only a web to ensnare his victim,

whose talent had diminished his authority, and was a bar to the

prosecution of [443] his ambitious views. Somji was seated in his bureau

when Arjun Singh of Kurabar and Sardar Singh[4.17.10] of Badesar

entered, and the latter, as he demanded how he dared to resume his fief,

plunged his dagger into the minister’s breast. The Rana was passing the

day at one of the villas in the valley called the Sahelia Bari, ‘the

garden of nymphs,’ attended by Jeth Singh of Badnor, when the

brothers[4.17.11] of the minister suddenly rushed into the presence to

claim protection against the murderers. They were followed by Arjun of

Kurabar, who had the audacity to present himself before his sovereign

with his hands yet stained with the blood of Somji. The Rana, unable to

punish the insolent chief, branding him as a traitor, bade him begone;

when the whole of the actors in this nefarious scene, with their leader

Salumbar, returned to Chitor. Sheodas and Satidas, brothers to the

murdered minister, were appointed to succeed him, and with the Saktawats

fought several actions against the rebels, and gained one decisive

battle at Akola, in which Arjun of Kurabar commanded. This was soon

balanced by the defeat of the Saktawats at Kheroda. Every triumph was

attended with ruin to the country. The agriculturist, never certain of

the fruits of his labour, abandoned his fields, and at length his

country; mechanical industry found no recompense, and commerce was at

the mercy of unlicensed spoliation. In a very few years Mewar lost half

her population, her lands lay waste, her mines were unworked, and her

looms, which formerly supplied all around, forsaken. The prince partook

of the general penury; instead of protecting, he required protection;

the bonds which united him with his subjects were snapped, and each

individual or petty community provided for itself that defence which he

could not give. Hence arose a train of evils: every cultivator, whether

fiscal or feudal, sought out a patron, and [444] entered into

engagements as the price of protection. Hence every Rajput who had a

horse and lance, had his clients; and not a camel-load of merchandise

could pass the abode of one of these cavaliers without paying fees. The

effects of such disorder were felt long after the cause ceased to exist,

and claims difficult to adjust arose out of these licentious times, for

the having prescriptive right was deemed sufficient to authorize their

continuance.[4.17.12] Here were displayed the effects of a feudal

association, where the powers of government were enfeebled. These feuds

alone were sufficient to ruin the country; but when to such internal

ills shoals of Mahratta plunderers were added, no art is required to

describe the consequences.

=Aid sought from Sindhia.=—The Rana and his advisers at length

determined to call in Sindhia to expel the rebellious Chondawats from

the ancient capital; a step mainly prompted by Zalim Singh (now Regent

of Kotah), who with the Rana’s ministers was deputed to the Mahratta

chieftain, then enjoying himself at the sacred lake of Pushkar.[4.17.13]

Since the overthrow of Lalsot he had reorganized his brigades under the

celebrated De Boigne,[4.17.14] through whose conduct he had redeemed his

lost influence in Rajputana by the battles of Merta and Patan, in which

the brave Rathors, after acts of the most devoted gallantry, were

completely overthrown. Sindhia’s plans coincided entirely with the

object of the deputation, and he readily acquiesced in the Rana’s

desire. This event introduced on the political stage some of the most

celebrated men of that day, whose actions offer a fair picture of

manners, and may justify our entering a little into details.[4.17.15]

=Negotiations by Zālim Singh.=—Zalim Singh had for some years become

regent of Kotah, and though to maintain himself in power, and the State

he controlled in an attitude to compel the respect of surrounding foes,

was no slight task, yet he found the field too contracted for his

ambition, and his secret views had long been directed to permanent

influence in Mewar. His skill in reading character convinced him that

the Rana would be no bar to his wishes, the attainment of which, by

giving him the combined resources of Haraoti and Mewar, would bestow the

lead in Rajasthan. The Jaipur court he disregarded, whose effeminate

army he had himself defeated single-handed [445] with the Kotah troops,

and the influence he established amongst the leading chiefs of Marwar

held out no fear of counteraction from that quarter. The stake was high,

the game sure, and success would have opened a field to his genius which

might have entirely altered the fate of Hindustan; but one false move

was irretrievable, and instead of becoming the arbitrator of India, he

left only the reputation of being the Nestor of Rajputana.

The restriction of the Rana’s power was the cloak under which he

disguised all his operations, and it might have been well for the

country had his plans succeeded to their full extent. To re-establish

the Rana’s authority, and to pay the charges of the reduction of Chitor,

he determined that the rebels chiefly should furnish the means, and that

from them and the fiscal lands, mostly in their hands, sixty-four lakhs

should be levied, of which three-fifths should be appropriated to

Sindhia, and the remainder to replenish the Rana’s treasury.

Preliminaries being thus arranged, Zalim was furnished with a strong

corps under Ambaji Inglia; while Sindhia followed, hanging on the Marwar

frontier, to realize the contributions of that State. Zalim Singh and

Ambaji moved towards Chitor, levying from the estates of those obnoxious

to Zalim’s views. Hamirgarh, whose chief, Dhiraj Singh, a man of talent

and courage, was the principal adviser of Bhim Singh, the Salumbar

chief, was besieged, and stood several assaults during six weeks’

vigorous operations, when the destruction of the springs of the wells

from the concussion of the guns compelled its surrender, and the estate

was sequestrated. The force continued their progress, and after a

trifling altercation at Basai, a Chondawat fief, also taken, they took

up a position at Chitor, and were soon after joined by the main body

under Sindhia.

=Zālim Singh and Sindhia at Udaipur.=—Zalim, to gratify Mahadaji’s

vanity, who was desirous of a visit from the Rana, which even the Peshwa

considered an honour, proceeded to Udaipur to effect this object; when

the Rana, placing himself under his guidance, marched for this purpose,

and was met at the Tiger Mount, within a few miles of his capital, by

Sindhia, who received the Rana, and escorted him to the besieging army.

But in this short interval, Ambaji, who remained with the army at

Chitor, intrigued with the rebel Chondawat to supplant the predominant

influence of his friend Zalim Singh, and seized the opportunity of his

absence to counteract him, by [446] communicating his plans to Salumbar;

aware that, unless he broke with Zalim, he could only hope to play a

secondary part under him. Though the ulterior views of Zalim were kept

to his own breast, they could not escape the penetration of the crafty

Mahratta; his very anxiety to hide them furnished Ambaji with the means

of detection. Had Zalim possessed an equal share of meanness with his

political antagonist, he might have extricated himself from the snare;

but once overreached, he preferred sinking to grasping at an unworthy

support. Bhim Singh (Salumbar) privately negotiated with Ambaji the

surrender of Chitor, engaging to humble himself before the Rana, and to

pay a contribution of twenty lakhs, levied on the clans, provided Zalim

Singh was ordered to retire. This suggestion, apparently founded on the

rebellious chief’s antipathy to Zalim, but in reality prompted by

Ambaji, ensured the approbation, as it suited the views, of all parties,

but especially Sindhia, who was desirous of repairing to Poona. Zalim,

the sole obstacle to this arrangement, furnished to his enemies the

means of escape from the dilemma, and lost the opportunity of realizing

his long-cherished scheme of wielding the united resources of Mewar and

Haraoti. Zalim had always preserved a strict amity with Ambaji wherever

their interests did not clash, and his regard had the cement of

gratitude to the Mahratta, whose father Trimbakji had saved Zalim’s life

and procured his liberty, when left wounded and a prisoner at the battle

of Ujjain. On Zalim’s return with the Rana, Ambaji touched on the terms

of Bhim Singh’s surrender, hinting that Zalim’s presence was the sole

obstacle to this desirable result; who, the more to mask his views,

which any expressed reluctance to the measure might expose, went beyond

probability in asseverations of readiness to be no bar to such

arrangement, even so far as to affirm that, besides being tired of the

business from the heavy expense it entailed on him, he had his prince’s

wish for his return to Kotah. There is one ingredient in Zalim’s

character, which has never been totally merged in the vices acquired

from the tortuous policy of a long life, and which in the vigour of

youth had full sway—namely, pride, one of the few virtues left to the

Rajput, defrauded of many others by long oppression. But Zalim’s pride

was legitimate, being allied to honour, and it has retained him an

evident superiority through all the mazes of ambition. Ambaji skilfully

availed himself of this defect in his friend’s political character. "A

pretty [447] story, indeed!—you tell this to me! it might find credit

with those who did not know you." The sarcasm only plunged him deeper

into asseveration. “Is it then really your wish to retire?” “Assuredly.”

“Then,” retorted the crafty Ambaji, “your wish shall be gratified in a

few minutes.” Giving him no time to retract, he called for his horse and

galloped to Sindhia’s tent. Zalim relied on Sindhia not acceding to the

proposition; or if he did, that the Rana, over whom he imagined he had

complete influence, would oppose it. His hopes of Sindhia rested on a

promise privately made to leave troops under his authority for the

restoration of order in Mewar; and a yet stronger claim, the knowledge

that without Zalim he could not realize the stipulated sums for the

expulsion of the Chondawat from Chitor. Ambaji had foreseen and prepared

a remedy for these difficulties, and upon their being urged offered

himself to advance the amount by bills on the Deccan. This argument was

irresistible; money, and the consequent prosecution of his journey to

Poona, being attained, Sindhia’s engagements with Zalim and the Rana

ceased to be a matter of importance. He nominated Ambaji his lieutenant,

with the command of a large force, by whose aid he would reimburse

himself for the sums thus advanced. Having carried his object with

Sindhia, Ambaji proceeded direct from his tent to that of the Rana’s

ministers, Sheodas and Satidas, with whom, by the promise of

co-operation in their views, and perfect subserviency to the Rana’s

interests, he was alike successful. Ambaji, with the rapidity necessary

to ensure success, having in a few hours accomplished his purpose,

hastened back to Zalim, to acquaint him that his wish to retire had met

with general acquiescence; and so well did he manage, that the Rana’s

mace-bearer arrived at the same moment to announce that the khilat of

leave awaited his acceptance. Zalim being thus outwitted, the Salumbar

chief descended from Chitor, and touched the Rana’s feet. Sindhia

pursued his march to the Deccan, and Ambaji was left sole arbiter of

Mewar. The Saktawats maintained the lead at court, and were not backward

in consigning the estates of their rivals to the incubus now settled on

the country: while the mortified Zalim, on his retreat, recorded his

expenses, to be produced on some fitting occasion.

=Sindhia’s Instructions to Ambaji.=—Ambaji remained eight years in

Mewar, reaping its revenues and amassing those hoards of wealth which

subsequently gave him the lead in Hindustan, and enabled him nearly to

assert his independence. Yet, although he accumulated [448] £2,000,000

sterling from her soil,[4.17.16] exacting one-half of the produce of

agricultural industry, the suppression of feuds and exterior aggressions

gave to Mewar a degree of tranquillity and happiness to which she had

long been a stranger. The instructions delivered to Ambaji were—

1. The entire restoration of the Rana’s authority and resumption

of the crown-lands from rebellious chiefs and mercenary Sindis.

2. The expulsion of the pretender from Kumbhalmer.

3. The recovery of Godwar from the Raja of Marwar.

4. To settle the Bundi feud for the murder of Rana Arsi.

A schedule (_pandhri_)[4.17.17] for the twenty lakhs stipulated was made

and levied; twelve from the Chondawat estates and eight from the

Saktawats; and the sum of sixty lakhs was awarded, besides the expense

of Ambaji’s army, when the other specified objects should be attained.

Within two years the pretender was expelled Kumbhalmer, Jahazpur was

recovered from a rebellious Ranawat, and the crown-lands[4.17.18] were

redeemed from the nobles; the personal domain of the Rana, agricultural

and commercial, still realized nearly fifty lakhs of rupees. After these

services, though Godwar was still unredeemed, the Bundi feud unappeased,

and the lands mortgaged to the Mahrattas were not restored, Ambaji

assumed the title of Subahdar of Mewar, and identified himself with the

parties of the day. Yet so long as he personally upheld the interests of

the Rana, his memory is done justice to, notwithstanding he never

conformed to the strict letter of his engagements. The Rana’s ministers,

fearing lest their brother’s fate should be theirs in the event of the

Chondawats again attaining power, and deeming their own and their

sovereign’s security dependent on Ambaji’s presence, made a subsidiary

engagement with him, and lands to the amount of 75,000 rupees monthly,

or eight lakhs annually, were appropriated for his force; but so

completely were the resources of the [449] country diverted from their

honest use, that when, in S. 1851, a marriage was negotiated between the

Rana’s sister and the prince of Jaipur, the Rana was obliged to borrow

£50,000 from the Mahratta commander to purchase the nuptial presents.

The following year was marked by a triple event—the death of the

queen-mother, the birth of a son and heir to the Rana, and the bursting

of the embankment of the lake, which swept away a third of the city and

a third of its inhabitants. Superstition attributed this catastrophe to

the Rana’s impiety, in establishing a new festival[4.17.19] to Gauri,

the Isis of Rajasthan.

=Anarchy in Mewār.=—Ambaji, who was this year nominated by Sindhia his

viceroy in Hindustan, left Ganesh Pant as his lieutenant in Mewar, with

whom acted the Rana’s officers, Sawai and Shirji Mehta;[4.17.20] who

applied themselves to make the most of their ephemeral power with so

rapacious a spirit, that Ambaji was compelled to displace Ganesh Pant

and appoint the celebrated Rae Chand. To him they would not yield, and

each party formed a nucleus for disorder and misrule. It would be

uninteresting and nauseating to the reader to carry him through all the

scenes of villainy which gradually desolated this country; for whose

spoil pilfering Mahrattas, savage Rohillas, and adventurous Franks were

all let loose. The now humbled Chondawats, many of whose fiefs were

confiscated, took to horse, and in conjunction with lawless Sindis

scoured the country. Their estates were attacked, Kurabar was taken, and

batteries were placed against Salumbar, whence the Sindis fled and found

refuge in Deogarh. In this exigence, the Chondawats determined to send

an envoy to Ambaji, who was then engaged in the siege of Datia; and Ajit

Singh, since prominent in the intrigues of Mewar, was the organ of his

clan on this occasion. For the sum of ten lakhs the avaricious Mahratta

agreed to recall his deputy from Mewar,[4.17.21] to renounce Sheodas and

the Saktawats, and lend his support to the Chondawats. The Salumbar

chief again took the lead at court, and with Agarji Mehta[4.17.22] as

minister, the Saktawats [450] were attacked, the stipulated ten lakhs

raised from their estates, and two fiefs of note, Hintha and Semari,

confiscated [451].

=Death of Mahādaji Sindhia, January 12, 1794.=—The death of Mahadaji

Sindhia,[4.17.23] and the accession of his nephew Daulatrao, his murder

of the Shenvi Brahmans, and his quarrels with the Bais (‘princesses,’

wives of the deceased Sindhia), all occurred at this time, and

materially influenced the events in Mewar. The power of Ambaji as

Subahdar of Hindustan was strengthened by the minority of Sindhia,

although contested by Lakwa and the Bais, supported by the Khichi

prince, Durjan Sal, and the Datia Raja, who fought and died for the

princesses. Lakwa wrote to the Rana to throw off Ambaji’s yoke and expel

his lieutenant; while Ambaji commanded his deputy to eject the

Shenvi[4.17.24] Brahmans, supporters of Lakwa, from all the lands in

Mewar. To this end Ganesh Pant called on the Rana’s ministers and

chiefs, who, consulting thereon, determined to play a deep game; and

while they apparently acquiesced in the schemes of Ganesh, they wrote

the Shenvis to advance from Jawad and attack him, promising them

support. They met at Sawa; Nana was defeated with the loss of his guns,

and retired on Chitor. With a feint of support, the Chondawats made him

again call in his garrison and try another battle, which he also lost

and fled to Hamirgarh; then, uniting with his enemies, they invested the

place with 15,000 men. Nana bravely maintained himself, making many

sallies, in one of which both the sons of Dhiraj Singh, the chief of

Hamirgarh, were slain. Shortly after, Nana was relieved by some

battalions of the new raised regulars sent by Ambaji under Gulab Rao

Kadam, upon which he commenced his retreat on Ajmer. At Musamusi he was

forced to action, and success had nearly crowned the efforts of the

clans, when a horseman, endeavouring to secure a mare, calling out

[452], "_Bhagi! bhagi!_" “She flies! she flies!” the word spread, while

those who caught her, exclaiming "_Milgayi! milgayi!_" “She is taken!”

but equally significant with ‘going over’ to the enemy, caused a general

panic, and the Chondawats, on the verge of victory, disgraced

themselves, broke and fled. Several were slain, among whom was the Sindi

leader Chandan. Shahpura opened its gates to the fugitives led by the

Goliath of the host, the chief of Deogarh.[4.17.25] It was an occasion

not to be lost by the bards of the rival clan, and many a ribald stanza

records this day’s disgrace. Ambaji’s lieutenant, however, was so

roughly handled that several chiefs redeemed their estates, and the Rana

much of the fisc, from Mahratta control.

=Contest of Ambaji and Lakwa.=—Mewar now became the arena on which the

rival satraps Ambaji and Lakwa contested the exalted office of Sindhia’s

lieutenancy in Hindustan. Lakwa was joined by all the chiefs of Mewar,

his cause being their own; and Hamirgarh, still held by Nana’s party,

was reinvested. Two thousand shot had made a practicable breach, when

Bala Rao Inglia, Bapu Sindhia, Jaswant Rao Sindhia, a brigade under the

European ‘Mutta field,’[4.17.26] with the auxiliary battalions of Zalim

Singh of Kotah, the whole under the command of Ambaji’s son, arrived to

relieve the lieutenant. Lakwa raised the siege, and took post with his

allies under the walls of Chitor; whilst the besieged left the untenable

Hamirgarh, and joined the relief at Gosunda. The rival armies were

separated only by the Berach river, on whose banks they raised batteries

and cannonaded each other, when a dispute arose in the victor camp

regarding the pay of the troops, between Bala Rao (brother of Ambaji)

and Nana, and the latter withdrew and retreated to Sanganer. Thus

disunited, it might have been expected that these congregated masses

would have dissolved, or fallen upon each other, when the Rajputs might

have given the _coup de grâce_ to the survivors; but they were

Mahrattas, and their politics were too complicated to end in simple

strife: almost all the actors in these scenes lived to contest with, and

be humiliated by, the British.

=George Thomas.=—The defection of Nana equalized the parties; but Bala

Rao, never partial to fighting, opportunely recollected a debt of

gratitude to Lakwa, to whose clemency he owed his life when taken by

storm in Gugal Chapra. He also wanted money [453] to pay his force,

which a private overture to Lakwa secured. They met, and Bala Rao

retired boasting of his gratitude, to which, and the defection of Nana,

soon followed by that of Bapu Sindhia, the salvation of Lakwa was

attributed. Sutherland[4.17.27] with a brigade was detached by Ambaji to

aid Nana: but a dispute depriving him of this reinforcement, he called

in a partisan of more celebrity, the brave George Thomas.[4.17.28]

Ambaji’s lieutenant and Lakwa were once more equal foes, and the Rana,

his chiefs and subjects being distracted between these conflicting

bands, whose leaders alternately paid their respects to him, were glad

to obtain a little repose by espousing the cause of either combatant,

whose armies during the monsoon encamped for six weeks within sight of

each other.[4.17.29]

=Pillage in Mewār.=—Durjan Sal (Khichi), with the nobles of Mewar,

hovered round Nana’s camp with five thousand horse to cut off his

supplies; but Thomas escorted the convoys from Shahpura with his

regulars, and defied all their efforts. Thomas at length advanced his

batteries against Lakwa, on whose position a general assault was about

taking place, when a tremendous storm, with torrents of rain which

filled the stream, cut off his batteries from the main body, burst the

gates of Shahpura, his _point d’appui_, and laid the town in

ruins.[4.17.30] Lakwa seized the moment, and with the Mewar chiefs

stormed and carried the isolated batteries, capturing fifteen pieces of

cannon; and the Shahpura Raja, threatened at once by his brother-nobles

and the vengeance of heaven, refused further provision to Nana, who was

compelled to abandon his position and retreat to Sanganer. The

discomfited lieutenant vowed vengeance against the estates of the Mewar

chieftains, and after the rains, being reinforced by Ambaji, again took

the field. Then commenced a scene of carnage, pillage, and individual

defence. The whole of the Chondawat estates under the Aravalli range

were laid waste, their castles assaulted, some taken and destroyed, and

heavy sums levied on all. Thomas besieged Deogarh and Amet, and both

fought and paid. Kasital and Lasani were captured, and the latter razed

for its gallant resistance. Thus they were proceeding in the work of

destruction, when Ambaji [454] was dispossessed of the government of

Hindustan, to which Lakwa was nominated,[4.17.31] and Nana was compelled

to surrender all the fortresses and towns he held in Mewar.

=Daulat Rāo Sindhia reduces Mewār.=—From this period must be dated the

pretensions of Sindhia to consider Mewar as tributary to him. We have

traced the rise of the Mahrattas, and the progress of their baneful

influence in Mewar. The abstractions of territory from S. 1826 to 1831

[A.D. 1769-74], as pledges for contributions, satisfied their avarice

till 1848 [A.D. 1791], when the Salumbar rebellion brought the great

Sindhia to Chitor, leaving Ambaji as his lieutenant, with a subsidiary

force, to recover the Rana’s lost possessions. We have related how these

conditions were fulfilled; how Ambaji, inflated with the wealth of

Mewar, assumed almost regal dignity in Hindustan, assigning the devoted

land to be governed by his deputies, whose contest with other aspirants

made this unhappy region the stage for constant struggles for supremacy;

and while the secret policy of Zalim Singh stimulated the Saktawats to

cling to Ambaji, the Chondawats gave their influence and interest to his

rival Lakwa. The unhappy Rana and the peasantry paid for this rivalry;

while Sindhia, whose power was now in its zenith, fastened one of his

desultory armies on Mewar, in contravention of former treaties, without

any definite views, or even instructions to its commander. It was enough

that a large body should supply itself without assailing him for prey,

and whose services were available when required.

=Lakwa Dāda Marātha Viceroy.=—Lakwa, the new viceroy, marched to Mewar:

Agarji Mehta was appointed minister to the Rana, and the Chondawats

again came into power. For the sum of six lakhs Lakwa dispossessed the

Shahpura of Jahazpur, for the liquidation of which thirty-six of its

towns were mortgaged. Zalim Singh, who had long been manœuvring to

obtain Jahazpur, administered to the necessities of the Mahratta, paid

the note of hand, and took possession of the city and its villages. A

contribution of twenty-four lakhs was imposed throughout the country,

and levied by force of arms, after which first act of the new viceroy he

quitted Mewar for Jaipur, leaving Jaswant Rao Bhao as his deputy. Mauji

Ram, the deputy of Agarji (the Rana’s minister), determined to adopt the

European mode of discipline, now become general amongst all the native

powers of India. But when the chiefs were [455] called upon to

contribute to the support of mercenary regulars and a field-artillery,

they evinced their patriotism by confining this zealous minister.

Satidas was once more placed in power, and his brother Sheodas recalled

from Kotah, whither he had fled from the Chondawats, who now

appropriated to themselves the most valuable portions of the Rana’s

personal domain.

=Holkar defeated at Indore. Plunder of Nāthdwāra: image removed.=—The

battle of Indore,[4.17.32] in A.D. 1802, where at least 150,000 men

assembled to dispute the claim to predatory empire, wrested the

ascendancy from Holkar, who lost his guns, equipage, and capital, from

which he fled to Mewar, pursued by Sindhia’s victorious army led by

Sadasheo and Bala Rao. In his flight he plundered Ratlam, and passing

Bhindar, the castle of the Saktawat chief, he demanded a contribution,

from which and his meditated visit to Udaipur, the Rana and his vassal

were saved by the activity of the pursuit. Failing in these objects,

Holkar retreated on Nathdwara, the celebrated shrine of the Hindu

Apollo.[4.17.33] It was here this active soldier first showed symptoms

of mental derangement. He upbraided Krishna, while prostrate before his

image, for the loss of his victory; and levied three lakhs of rupees on

the priests and inhabitants, several of whom he carried to his camp as

hostages for the payment. The portal (_dwara_) of the god (_Nath_)

proving no bar either to Turk or equally impious Mahratta, Damodarji,

the high priest, removed the god of Vraj from his pedestal and sent him

with his establishment to Udaipur for protection. The Chauhan chief of

Kotharia (one of the sixteen nobles), in whose estate was the sacred

fane, undertook the duty, and with twenty horsemen, his vassals,

escorted the shepherd god by intricate passes to the capital. On his

return he was intercepted by a band of Holkar’s troops, who insultingly

desired the surrender of their horses. But the descendant of the

illustrious Prithiraj preferred death to dishonour: dismounting, he

hamstrung his steed, commanding his vassals to follow his example; and

sword in hand courted his fate in the unequal conflict, in which he

fell, with most of his gallant retainers. There are many such isolated

exploits in the records of this eventful period, of which the Chauhans

of Kotharia had their full share. Spoil, from whatever source, being

welcome to these depredators, Nathdwara[4.17.34] remained long

abandoned; and Apollo, after six months’ residence at Udaipur, finding

[456] insufficient protection, took another flight to the mountains of

Ghasyar, where the high priest threw up fortifications for his defence;

and spiritual thunders being disregarded, the pontiff henceforth buckled

on the armour of flesh, and at the head of four hundred cavaliers with

lance and shield, visited the minor shrines in his extensive diocese.

=The Inroad of Holkar.=—To return to Holkar. He pursued his route by

Banera and Shahpura, levying from both, to Ajmer, where he distributed a

portion of the offerings of the followers of Krishna amongst the priests

of Muhammad at the mosque of Khwaja Pir. Thence he proceeded towards

Jaipur. Sindhia’s leaders on reaching Mewar renounced the pursuit, and

Udaipur was cursed with their presence, when three lakhs of rupees were

extorted from the unfortunate Rana, raised by the sale of household

effects and the jewels of the females of his family. Jaswant Rao Bhao,

the Subahdar of Mewar, had prepared another schedule (_pandhri_), which

he left with Tantia, his deputy, to realize. Then followed the usual

scene of conflict—the attack of the chieftain’s estates, distraining of

the husbandman, seizure of his cattle, and his captivity for ransom, or

his exile.

=Mewār Quarrels.=—The celebrated Lakwa, disgraced by his prince, died at

this time[4.17.35] in sanctuary at Salumbar; and Bala Rao, brother to

Ambaji, returned, and was joined by the Saktawats and the minister

Satidas, who expelled the Chondawats for their control over the prince.

Zalim Singh, in furtherance of his schemes and through hatred of the

Chondawats, united himself to this faction, and Devi Chand, minister to

the Rana, set up by the Chondawats, was made prisoner. Bala Rao levied

and destroyed their estates with unexampled ferocity, which produced a

bold attempt at deliverance. The Chondawat leaders assembled at the

Chaugan (the _Champ de Mars_) to consult on their safety. The insolent

Mahratta had preceded them to the palace, demanding the surrender of the

minister’s deputy, Mauji Ram. The Rana indignantly refused them—the

Mahratta importuned, threatened, and at length commanded his troops to

advance to the palace, when the intrepid minister pinioned the audacious

plunderers, and secured his adherents (including their old enemy, Nana

Ganesh), Jamalkar, and Uda Kunwar. The latter, a notorious villain, had

an elephant’s chain put round his neck, while Bala Rao was confined in a

bath. The [457] leaders thus arrested, the Chondawats sallied forth and

attacked their camp in the valley, which surrendered; though the

regulars under Hearsey[4.17.36] retreated in a hollow square, and

reached Gadarmala in safety. Zalim Singh determined to liberate his

friend Bala Rao from peril; and aided by the Saktawats under the chiefs

of Bhindar and Lawa, advanced to the Chaija Pass, one of the defiles

leading to the capital. Had the Rana put these chiefs to instant death,

he would have been justified, although he would have incurred the

resentment of the whole Mahratta nation. Instead of this, he put himself

at the head of a motley levy of six thousand Sindis, Arabs, and Gosains,

with the brave Jai Singh and a band of his gallant Khichis, ever ready

to poise the lance against a Mahratta. They defended the pass for five

days against a powerful artillery. At length the Rana was compelled to

liberate Bala Rao, and Zalim Singh obtained by this interference

possession of the fortress and entire district of Jahazpur. A schedule

of war contribution, the usual finale to these events, followed Bala’s

liberation, and no means were left untried to realize the exaction,

before Holkar, then approaching, could contest the spoil.

=Holkar plunders Udaipur.=—This chief, having recruited his shattered

forces, again left the south.[4.17.37] Bhindar felt his resentment for

non-compliance with his demands on his retreat after the battle of

Indore; the town was nearly destroyed, but spared for two lakhs of

rupees, for the payment of which villages were assigned. Thence he

repaired to Udaipur, being met by Ajit Singh, the Rana’s ambassador,

when the enormous sum of forty lakhs, or £500,000, was demanded from the

country, of which one-third was commanded to be instantly forthcoming.

The palace was denuded of everything which could be converted into gold;

the females were deprived of every article of luxury and comfort: by

which, with contributions levied on the city, twelve lakhs were

obtained; while hostages from the household of the Rana and chief

citizens were delivered as security for the remainder, and immured in

the Mahratta camp. Holkar then visited the Rana. Lawa and Badnor were

attacked, taken, and restored on large payments. Deogarh alone was

mulcted four and a half lakhs. Having devastated Mewar during eight

months, Holkar [458] marched to Hindustan,[4.17.38] Ajit Singh

accompanying him as the Rana’s representative; while Bala Ram Seth was

left to levy the balance of the forty lakhs. Holkar had reached Shahpura

when Sindhia entered Mewar, and their camps formed a junction to allow

the leaders to organize their mutual plans of hostility to the British

Government. These chieftains, in their efforts to cope with the British

power, had been completely humiliated, and their resources broken. But

Rajasthan was made to pay the penalty of British success, which riveted

her chains, and it would be but honest, now we have the power, to

diminish that penalty.

=Sindhia and Holkar in Mewār.=—The rainy season of A.D. 1805 found

Sindhia and Holkar encamped in the plains of Badnor, desirous, but

afraid, to seek revenge in the renewal of war. Deprived of all power in

Hindustan, and of the choicest territory north and south of the

Nerbudda, with numerous discontented armies now let loose on these

devoted countries, their passions inflamed by defeat, and blind to every

sentiment of humanity, they had no alternative to pacify the soldiery

and replenish their own ruined resources but indiscriminate pillage. It

would require a pen powerful as the pencil of Salvator Rosa to paint the

horrors which filled up the succeeding ten years, to which the author

was an eye-witness, destined to follow in the train of rapine, and to

view in the traces of Mahratta camps[4.17.39] the desolation and

political annihilation of all the central States of India,[4.17.40]

several of which aided the British in their early struggle for dominion,

but were now allowed to fall without a helping hand, the scapegoats of

our successes. Peace between the Mahrattas and British was, however,

doubtful, as Sindhia made the restoration of the rich provinces of Gohad

and Gwalior a _sine qua non_: and unhappily for their legitimate ruler,

who [459] had been inducted into the seat of his forefathers, a

Governor-General (Lord Cornwallis) of ancient renown, but in the decline

of life, with views totally unsuited to the times, abandoned our allies,

and renounced all for peace, sending an ambassador[4.17.41] to Sindhia

to reunite the bonds of ‘perpetual friendship.’

=Holkar saves Mewār from Sindhia.=—The Mahratta leaders were anxious, if

the war should be renewed, to shelter their families and valuables in

the strongholds of Mewar, and their respective camps became the

rendezvous of the rival factions. Sardar Singh, the organ of the

Chondawats, represented the Rana at Sindhia’s court, at the head of

whose councils Ambaji had just been placed.[4.17.42] His rancour to the

Rana was implacable, from the support given in self-defence to his

political antagonist, Lakwa, and he agitated the partition of Mewar

amongst the great Mahratta leaders. But whilst his baneful influence was

preparing this result, the credit of Sangram Saktawat with Holkar

counteracted it. It would be unfair and ungallant not to record that a

fair suitor, the Baiza Bai,[4.17.43] Sindhia’s wife, powerfully

contributed to the Rana’s preservation on this occasion. This lady, the

daughter of the notorious Sarji Rao, had unbounded power over Sindhia.

Her sympathies were awakened on behalf of the supreme head of the Rajput

nation, of which blood she had to boast, though she was now connected

with the Mahrattas. Even the hostile clans stifled their animosities on

this occasion, and Sardar Singh Chondawat left Sindhia’s camp to join

his rival Sangram with Holkar, and aided by the upright Kishandas

Pancholi, united in their remonstrances, asking Holkar if he had given

his consent to sell Mewar to Ambaji. Touched by the picture of the

Rana’s and their country’s distresses, Holkar swore it should not be;

advised unity amongst themselves, and caused the representatives of the

rival clans ‘to eat opium together.’ Nor did he stop here, but with the

envoys repaired to Sindhia’s tents, descanted on the Rana’s high

descent, ‘the master of their master’s master,’[4.17.44] urging that it

did not become them to overwhelm him, and that they should even renounce

the mortgaged lands which their fathers had too long unjustly held,

himself setting the example by the restitution of [460] Nimbahera. To

strengthen his argument, he expatiated with Sindhia on the policy of

conciliating the Rana, whose strongholds might be available in the event

of a renewal of hostilities with the British. Sindhia appeared a convert

to his views, and retained the envoys in his camp. The Mahratta camps

were twenty miles apart, and incessant torrents of rain had for some

days prevented all intercourse. In this interim, Holkar received

intelligence that Bhairon Bakhsh, as envoy from the Rana, was in Lord

Lake’s camp negotiating for the aid of British troops, then at Tonk, to

drive the Mahrattas from Mewar. The incensed Holkar sent for the Rana’s

ambassadors, and assailed them with a torrent of reproach; accusing them

of treachery, he threw the newspaper containing the information at

Kishandas, asking if that were the way in which the Mewaris kept faith

with him? “I cared not to break with Sindhia in support of your master,

and while combating the Farangis (Franks), when all the Hindus should be

as brothers, your sovereign the Rana, who boasts of not acknowledging

the supremacy of Delhi, is the first to enter into arms with them. Was

it for this I prevented Ambaji being fastened on you?” Kishandas here

interrupted and attempted to pacify him, when Alikar Tantia, Holkar’s

minister, stopped him short, observing to his prince, “You see the faith

of these Rangras;[4.17.45] they would disunite you and Sindhia, and ruin

both. Shake them off: be reconciled to Sindhia, dismiss Sarji Rao, and

let Ambaji be Subahdar of Mewar, or I will leave you and take Sindhia

into Malwa.” The other councillors, with the exception of Bhao Bhaskar,

seconded this advice: Sarji Rao was dismissed; and Holkar proceeded

northward, where he was encountered and pursued to the Panjab by the

British under the intrepid and enterprising Lake, who dictated terms to

the Mahratta at the altars of Alexander.[4.17.46]

=Holkar protects Mewār Interests.=—Holkar had the generosity to

stipulate, before his departure from Mewar, for the security of the Rana

and his country, telling Sindhia he should hold him personally amenable

to him if Ambaji were permitted to violate his guarantee. But in his

misfortunes this threat was disregarded, and a contribution of sixteen

lakhs was levied immediately on Mewar; Sadasheo Rao, with

Baptiste’s[4.17.47] brigade, was detached from the camp in June 1806,

for the double purpose of levying it, and driving from [461] Udaipur a

detachment of the Jaipur prince’s troops, bringing proposals and

preliminary presents for this prince’s marriage with the Rana’s

daughter.

=The Tragedy of Krishna Kunwāri.=—It would be imagined that the miseries

of Rana Bhim were not susceptible of aggravation, and that fortune had

done her worst to humble him; but his pride as a sovereign and his

feelings as a parent were destined to be yet more deeply wounded. The

Jaipur cortège had encamped near the capital, to the number of three

thousand men, while the Rana’s acknowledgments of acceptance were

dispatched, and had reached Shahpura. But Raja Man of Marwar also

advanced pretensions, founded on the princess having been actually

betrothed to his predecessor; and urging that the throne of Marwar, and

not the individual occupant, was the object, he vowed resentment and

opposition if his claims were disregarded. These were suggested, it is

said, by his nobles to cloak their own views; and promoted by the

Chondawats (then in favour with the Rana), whose organ, Ajit, was bribed

to further them, contrary to the decided wishes of their prince.

Krishna Kunwari (the _Virgin_ Krishna) was the name of the lovely

object, the rivalry for whose hand assembled under the banners of her

suitors (Jagat Singh of Jaipur and Raja Man of Marwar), not only their

native chivalry, but all the predatory powers of India; and who, like

Helen of old, involved in destruction her own and the rival houses.

Sindhia having been denied a pecuniary demand by Jaipur, not only

opposed the nuptials, but aided the claims of Raja Man, by demanding of

the Rana the dismissal of the Jaipur embassy: which being refused, he

advanced his brigades and batteries, and after a fruitless resistance,

in which the Jaipur troops joined, forced the pass, threw a corps of

eight thousand men into the valley, and following in person, encamped

within cannon-range of the city. The Rana had now no alternative but to

dismiss the nuptial cortège, and agree to whatever was demanded. Sindhia

remained a month in the valley, during which an interview took place

between him and the Rana at the shrine of Eklinga [462].[4.17.48]

=Battle of Parbatsar. Defeat of the Mārwār Forces.=—The heralds of Hymen

being thus rudely repulsed and its symbols intercepted, the Jaipur

prince prepared to avenge his insulted pride and disappointed hopes, and

accordingly arrayed a force such as had not assembled since the empire

was in its glory. Raja Man eagerly took up the gauntlet of his rival,

and headed ‘the swords of Maru.’ But dissension prevailed in Marwar,

where rival claimants for the throne had divided the loyalty of the

clans, introducing there also the influence of the Mahrattas. Raja Man,

who had acquired the sceptre by party aid, was obliged to maintain

himself by it, and to pursue the demoralizing policy of the period by

ranging his vassals against each other. These nuptials gave the

malcontents an opportunity to display their long-curbed resentments, and

following the example of Mewar, they set up a pretender, whose interests

were eagerly espoused, and whose standard was erected in the array of

Jaipur; the prince at the head of 120,000 men advancing against his

rival, who with less than half the number met him at Parbatsar, on their

mutual frontier. The action was short, for while a heavy cannonade

opened on either side, the majority of the Marwar nobles went over to

the pretender. Raja Man turned his poniard against himself: but some

chiefs yet faithful to him wrested the weapon from his hand, and

conveyed him from the field. He was pursued to his capital, which was

invested, besieged, and gallantly defended during six months. The town

was at length taken and plundered, but the castle of Jodha ‘laughed a

siege to scorn’; in time with the aid of finesse, the mighty host of

Jaipur, which had consumed the forage of these arid plains for twenty

miles around, began to crumble away; intrigue spread through every rank,

and the siege ended in pusillanimity and flight. The Xerxes of Rajwara,

the effeminate Kachhwaha, alarmed at length for his personal safety,

sent on the spoils of Parbatsar and Jodhpur to his capital; but the

brave nobles of Marwar, drawing the line between loyalty and patriotism,

and determined that no trophy of Rathor degradation should be conveyed

by the Kachhwahas from Marwar, attacked the cortège and redeemed the

symbols of their disgrace. The colossal array of the invader was soon

dismembered, and the ‘lion of the world’ (Jagat Singh), humbled and

crestfallen [463], skulked from the desert retreat of his rival,

indebted to a partisan corps for safety and convoy to his capital,

around whose walls the wretched remnants of this ill-starred confederacy

long lagged in expectation of their pay, while the bones of their horses

and the ashes of their riders whitened the plain, and rendered it a

Golgotha.[4.17.49]

=Nawāb Amīr Khān.=—By the aid of one of the most notorious villains

India ever produced, the Nawab Amir Khan,[4.17.50] the pretender’s party

was treacherously annihilated. This man with his brigade of artillery

and horse was amongst the most efficient of the foes of Raja Man; but

the _auri sacra fames_ not only made him desert the side on which he

came for that of the Raja, but for a specific sum offer to rid him of

the pretender and all his associates. Like Judas, he kissed whom he

betrayed, took service with the pretender, and at the shrine of a saint

of his own faith exchanged turbans with their leaders; and while the too

credulous Rajput chieftains celebrated this acquisition to their party

in the very sanctuary of hospitality, crowned by the dance and the song,

the tents were cut down, and the victims thus enveloped, slaughtered in

the midst of festivity by showers of grape.

Thus finished the under-plot; but another and more noble victim was

demanded before discomfited ambition could repose, or the curtain drop

on this eventful drama. Neither party would relinquish his claim to the

fair object of the war; and the torch of discord could be extinguished

only in her blood. To the same ferocious Khan is attributed the

unhallowed suggestion, as well as its compulsory execution. The scene

was now changed from the desert castle of Jodha to the smiling valley of

Udaipur, soon to be filled with funereal lamentation.

=The Tragedy of Krishna Kunwāri.=—Krishna Kunwari Bai, the ‘Virgin

Princess Krishna,’ was in her sixteenth year: her mother was of the

Chawara race, the ancient kings of Anhilwara. Sprung from the noblest

blood of Hind, she added beauty of face and person to an engaging

demeanour, and was justly proclaimed the ‘flower of Rajasthan.’ When the

Roman father pierced the bosom of the dishonoured Virginia, appeased

virtue applauded the deed. When Iphigenia was led to the sacrificial

altar, the salvation of her country yielded a noble consolation. The

votive victim of Jephthah’s success had [464] the triumph of a father’s

fame to sustain her resignation, and in the meekness of her sufferings

we have the best parallel to the sacrifice of the lovely Krishna: though

years have passed since the barbarous immolation, it is never related

but with a faltering tongue and moistened eyes, ‘albeit unused to the

melting mood.’

The rapacious and bloodthirsty Pathan, covered with infamy, repaired to

Udaipur, where he was joined by the pliant and subtle Ajit. Meek in his

demeanour, unostentatious in his habits; despising honours, yet covetous

of power,—religion, which he followed with the zeal of an ascetic, if it

did not serve as a cloak, was at least no hindrance to an immeasurable

ambition, in the attainment of which he would have sacrificed all but

himself. When the Pathan revealed his design, that either the princess

should wed Raja Man, or by her death seal the peace of Rajwara, whatever

arguments were used to point the alternative, the Rana was made to see

no choice between consigning his beloved child to the Rathor prince, or

witnessing the effects of a more extended dishonour from the vengeance

of the Pathan, and the storm of his palace by his licentious

adherents—the fiat passed that Krishna Kunwari should die.

But the deed was left for women to accomplish—the hand of man refused

it. The Rawala[4.17.51] of an Eastern prince is a world within itself;

it is the labyrinth containing the strings that move the puppets which

alarm mankind. Here intrigue sits enthroned, and hence its influence

radiates to the world, always at a loss to trace effects to their

causes. Maharaja Daulat Singh,[4.17.52] descended four generations ago

from one common ancestor with the Rana, was first sounded ‘to save the

honour of Udaipur’; but, horror-struck, he exclaimed, “Accursed the

tongue that commands it! Dust on my allegiance, if thus to be

preserved!” The Maharaja Jawandas, a natural brother, was then called

upon; the dire necessity was explained, and it was urged that no common

hand could be armed for the purpose. He accepted the poniard, but when

in youthful loveliness Krishna appeared before him, the dagger fell from

his hand, and he returned more wretched than the victim. The fatal

purpose thus revealed, the shrieks of the frantic mother reverberated

through the palace, as she implored mercy, or execrated the murderers of

her child, who alone was resigned to her fate. But death was arrested,

not averted [465]. To use the phrase of the narrator, "she was excused

the steel—the cup was prepared,"—and prepared by female hands! As the

messenger presented it in the name of her father, she bowed and drank

it, sending up a prayer for his life and prosperity. The raving mother

poured imprecations on his head, while the lovely victim, who shed not a

tear, thus endeavoured to console her: “Why afflict yourself, my mother,

at this shortening of the sorrows of life? I fear not to die! Am I not

your daughter? Why should I fear death? We are marked out for

sacrifice[4.17.53] from our birth; we scarcely enter the world but to be

sent out again; let me thank my father that I have lived so

long!”[4.17.54] Thus she conversed till the nauseating draught refused

to assimilate with her blood. Again the bitter potion was prepared. She

drained it off, and again it was rejected; but, as if to try the extreme

of human fortitude, a third was administered; and, for the third time,

Nature refused to aid the horrid purpose. It seemed as if the fabled

charm, which guarded the life of the founder of her race,[4.17.55] was

inherited by the Virgin Krishna. But the blood-hounds, the Pathan and

Ajit, were impatient till their victim was at rest; and cruelty, as if

gathering strength from defeat, made another and a fatal attempt. A

powerful opiate was presented—_the kusumbha draught_.[4.17.56] She

received it with a smile, wished the scene over, and drank it. The

desires [466] of barbarity were accomplished. ‘She slept!’[4.17.57] a

sleep from which she never awoke.

The wretched mother did not long survive her child; nature was exhausted

in the ravings of despair; she refused food; and her remains in a few

days followed those of her daughter to the funeral pyre.

Even the ferocious Khan, when the instrument of his infamy, Ajit,

reported the issue, received him with contempt, and spurned him from his

presence, tauntingly asking “if this were the boasted Rajput valour?”

But the wily traitor had to encounter language far more bitter from his

political adversary, whom he detested. Sangram Saktawat reached the

capital only four days after the catastrophe—a man in every respect the

reverse of Ajit; audaciously brave, he neither feared the frown of his

sovereign nor the sword of his enemy. Without introduction he rushed

into the presence, where he found seated the traitor Ajit. “Oh dastard!

who hast thrown dust on the Sesodia race, whose blood which has flowed

in purity through a hundred ages has now been defiled! this sin will

check its course for ever; a blot so foul in our annals that no

Sesodia[4.17.58] will ever again hold up his head! A sin to which no

punishment were equal. But the end of our race is approaching! The line

of Bappa Rawal is at an end! Heaven has ordained this, a signal of our

destruction.” The Rana hid his face with his hands, when turning to

Ajit, he exclaimed, "Thou stain on the Sesodia race, thou impure of

Rajput blood, dust be on thy head as thou hast covered us all with

shame. May you die childless, and your name die with you![4.17.59] Why

this indecent haste? Had the Pathan stormed the city? Had he attempted

to violate the sanctity of the Rawala? And though he had, could you not

die as Rajputs, like your ancestors? Was it thus they gained a name? Was

it thus our race became renowned—thus they opposed the might of kings?

Have you forgotten the Sakhas of Chitor? But whom do I address—not

Rajputs? Had the honour of your females been endangered, had you

sacrificed them all and rushed sword in hand on the enemy, your name

would have lived, and the Almighty would have secured the seed of Bappa

Rawal. But to owe preservation [467] to this unhallowed deed! You did

not even await the threatened danger. Fear seems to have deprived you of

every faculty, or you might have spared the blood of Sriji,[4.17.60] and

if you did not scorn to owe your safety to deception, might have

substituted some less noble victim! But the end of our race approaches!"

=Fate of the Murderers.=—The traitor to manhood, his sovereign, and

humanity, durst not reply. The brave Sangram is now dead, but the

prophetic anathema has been fulfilled. Of ninety-five children, sons and

daughters, but one son (the brother of Krishna)[4.17.61] is left to the

Rana; and though his two remaining daughters have been recently married

to the princes of Jaisalmer and Bikaner, the Salic law, which is in full

force in these States, precludes all honour through female descent. His

hopes rest solely on the prince, Javana Singh,[4.17.62] and though in

the flower of youth and health, the marriage bed (albeit boasting no

less than four young princesses) has been blessed with no

progeny.[4.17.63]

The elder brother of Javana[4.17.64] died two years ago. Had he lived he

would have been Amra the Third. With regard to Ajit, the curse has been

fully accomplished. Scarcely a month after, his wife and two sons were

numbered with the dead; and the hoary traitor has since been wandering

from shrine to shrine, performing penance and alms in expiation of his

sins, yet unable to fling from him ambition; and with his beads in one

hand, _Rama! Rama!_ ever on his tongue, and subdued passion in his

looks, his heart is deceitful as ever. Enough of him: let us exclaim

with Sangram, “Dust on his head,”[4.17.65] which all the waters of the

Ganges could not purify from the blood of the virgin Krishna, but

rather would the multitudinous sea incarnadine [468].

=Amīr Khan rewarded by the British.=—His coadjutor, Amir Khan, is now

linked by treaties “in amity and unity of interests” with the sovereigns

of India; and though he has carried mourning into every house of

Rajasthan, yet charity might hope forgiveness would be extended to him,

could he cleanse himself from this deed of horror—‘throwing this pearl

away, richer than all his tribe!’ His career of rapine has terminated

with the caresses of the blind goddess, and placed him on a pinnacle to

which his sword would never have traced the path. Enjoying the most

distinguished post amongst the foreign chieftains of Holkar’s State,

having the regulars and park under his control, with large estates for

their support, he added the epithet of traitor to his other titles, when

the British Government, adopting the leading maxim of Asiatic policy,

_divide et impera_, guaranteed to him the sovereignty of these districts

on his abandoning the Mahrattas, disbanding his legions, and

surrendering the park. But though he personally fulfilled not, nor could

fulfil, one single stipulation, this man, whose services were not worth

the pay of a single sepoy—who fled from his camp[4.17.66] unattended,

and sought personal protection in that of the British commander—claimed

and obtained the full price of our pledge, the sovereignty of about

one-third of his master’s dominions; and the districts of Sironj, Tonk,

Rampura, and Nimbahera, form the domain of the Nawab Amir Khan, etc.,

etc., etc.!! This was in the fitful fever of success, when our arms were

everywhere triumphant. But were the viceroy of Hind to summon the forty

tributaries[4.17.67] now covered by the aegis of British protection to a

meeting, the murderer of Krishna would still occupy a place (though low)

in this illustrious divan. Let us hope that his character being known,

he would feel himself ill at ease; and let us dismiss him likewise in

the words of Sangram, “Dust on his head!”

The mind sickens at the contemplation of these unvarying scenes of

atrocity; but this unhappy State had yet to pass through two more

lustres of aggravated sufferings (to which the author of these annals

was an eye-witness) before their [469] termination, upon the alliance of

Mewar with Britain. From the period of the forcing of the passes, the

dismissal of the Jaipur embassy by Sindhia, and the murder of Krishna

Kunwari, the embassy of Britain was in the train of the Mahratta leader,

a witness of the evils described—a most painful predicament—when the

hand was stretched out for succour in vain, and the British flag waved

in the centre of desolation, unable to afford protection. But this day

of humiliation is past, thanks to the predatory hordes who goaded us on

to their destruction; although the work was incomplete, a nucleus being

imprudently left in Sindhia for the scattered particles again to form.

=Ruin of Mewār by the Marāthas.=—In the spring of 1806, when the embassy

entered the once-fertile Mewar, from whose native wealth the monuments

the pencil will portray were erected, nothing but ruin met the

eye—deserted towns, roofless houses, and uncultured plains. Wherever the

Mahratta encamped, annihilation was ensured; it was a habit; and

twenty-four hours sufficed to give to the most flourishing spot the

aspect of a desert. The march of destruction was always to be traced for

days afterwards by burning villages and destroyed cultivation. Some

satisfaction may result from the fact, that there was scarcely an actor

in these unhallowed scenes whose end was not fitted to his career.

Ambaji was compelled to disgorge the spoils of Mewar, and his personal

sufferings made some atonement for the ills he had inflicted upon her.

This satrap, who had almost established his independence in the fortress

and territory of Gwalior, suffered every indignity from Sindhia, whose

authority he had almost thrown off. He was confined in a mean tent,

manacled, suffered the torture of small lighted torches applied to his

fingers, and even attempted suicide to avoid the surrender of his

riches; but the instrument (an English penknife) was inefficient: the

surgeon to the British embassy sewed up the wounds, and his coffers were

eased of fifty-five lakhs of rupees! Mewar was, however, once more

delivered over to him; he died shortly after. If report be correct, the

residue of his treasures was possessed by his ancient ally, Zalim Singh.

In this case, the old politician derived the chief advantage of the

intrigues of S. 1848, without the crimes attendant on the acquisition.

Sindhia’s father-in-law, when expelled that chief’s camp, according to

the treaty, enjoyed the ephemeral dignity of minister to the Rana, when

he abstracted the most valuable records, especially those of the revenue

[470].

Kumbhalmer was obtained by the minister Satidas from Jaswant Rao Bhao

for seventy thousand rupees, for which assignments were given on this

district, of which he retained possession. Amir Khan in A.D. 1809 led

his myrmidons to the capital, threatening the demolition of the temple

of Eklinga if refused a contribution of eleven lakhs of rupees. Nine

were agreed to, but which by no effort could be raised, upon which the

Rana’s envoys were treated with indignity, and Kishandas[4.17.68]

wounded. The passes were forced, Amir Khan entering by Debari, and his

coadjutor and son-in-law, the notorious Jamshid, by the Chirwa, which

made but a feeble resistance. The ruffian Pathans were billeted on the

city, subjecting the Rana to personal humiliation, and Jamshid[4.17.69]

left with his licentious Rohillas in the capital. The traces of their

barbarity are to be seen in its ruins. No woman could safely venture

abroad, and a decent garment or turban was sufficient to attract their

cupidity.

=Bāpu Sindhia Sūbahdār of Mewār.=—In S. 1867 (A.D. 1811) Bapu Sindhia

arrived with the title of Subahdar, and encamped in the valley, and from

this to 1814 these vampires, representing Sindhia and Amir Khan,

possessed themselves of the entire fiscal domain, with many of the

fiefs, occasionally disputing for the spoils; to prevent which they came

to a conference at the Dhaula Magra (the white hill), attended by a

deputation[4.17.70] from the Rana, when the line of demarcation was

drawn between the spoilers. A schedule was formed of the towns and

villages yet inhabited, the amount to be levied from each specified, and

three and a half lakhs adjudged to Jamshid, with the same sum to

Sindhia; but this treaty was not better kept than the former ones. Mewar

was rapidly approaching dissolution, and every sign of civilization fast

disappearing; fields laid waste, cities in ruins, inhabitants exiled,

chieftains demoralized, the prince and his family destitute of common

comforts. Yet had Sindhia the audacity to demand compensation for the

loss of his tribute stipulated to Bapu Sindhia [471],[4.17.71] who

rendered Mewar a desert, carrying her chiefs, her merchants, her

farmers, into captivity and fetters in the dungeons of Ajmer, where many

died for want of ransom, and others languished till the treaty with the

British, in A.D. 1817, set them free.

-----

Footnote 4.17.1:

Brother of Ajit, the negotiator of the treaty with the British.

Footnote 4.17.2:

Chief of the Jagawat clan, also a branch of the Chondawats; he was

killed in a battle with the Mahrattas.

Footnote 4.17.3:

It is yet held by the successor of Sangram, whose faithful services

merited the grant he obtained from his prince, and it was in

consequence left unmolested in the arrangement of 1817, from the

knowledge of his merits.

Footnote 4.17.4:

The father of Rawat Jawan Singh, whom I found at Udaipur as military

minister, acting for his grand-uncle Ajit the organ of the Chondawats,

whose head, Padam Singh, was just emerging from his minority. It was

absolutely necessary to get to the very root of all these feuds, when

as envoy and mediator I had to settle the disputes of half a century,

and make each useful to detect their joint usurpations of the crown

domain.

Footnote 4.17.5:

She was the grandmother of Man Singh, a fine specimen of a Saktawat

cavalier.

Footnote 4.17.6:

[Lālsot, about 40 miles south of Jaipur city. For an account of the

battle see Compton, _European Military Adventurers_, 346 f.]

Footnote 4.17.7:

Megh Singh was the chief of Begun, and founder of that subdivision of

the Chondawats called after him Meghawat, and his complexion being

very dark (_kala_), he was called ‘Kala Megh,’ the ‘black cloud.’ His

descendants were very numerous and very refractory.

Footnote 4.17.8:

A.D. 1788.

Footnote 4.17.9:

He did not recover his liberty for two years, nor till he had

surrendered four of the best towns in his fief.

Footnote 4.17.10:

Father of the present Hamir Singh, the only chief with whom I was

compelled to use severity; but he was incorrigible. He was celebrated

for his raids in the troubles, and from his red whiskers bore with us

the name of the ‘Red Riever’ of Badesar—more of him by and by.

Footnote 4.17.11:

Sheodas and Satidas, with their cousin Jaichand. They revenged their

brother’s death by that of his murderer, and were both in turn slain.

Such were these times! The author more than once, when resuming the

Chondawat lands, and amongst them Badesar, the fief of the son of

Sardar, was told to recollect the fate of Somji; the advice, however,

excited only a smile; he was deemed more of a Saktawat than a

Chondawat, and there was some truth in it, for he found the good

actions of the former far outweigh the other, who made a boast and

monopoly of their patriotism. It was a curious period in his life; the

stimulus to action was too high, too constant, to think of self; and

having no personal views, being influenced solely by one feeling, the

prosperity of all, he despised the very idea of danger, though it was

said to exist in various shapes, even in the hospitable plate put

before him! But he deemed none capable of such treachery, though once

he was within a few minutes’ march to the other world; but the cause,

if the right one, came from his own _cuisinier_, or rather

_boulanger_, whom he discharged.

Footnote 4.17.12:

See the Essay on a Feudal System.

Footnote 4.17.13:

S. 1847 (A.D. 1791).

Footnote 4.17.14:

[Count Benoit de Boigne, a Savoyard, born at Chambery, 1751: served

under Mahādaji Sindhia, and won for him his battles of Pātan and Merta

in 1790: defeated Holkar at Lakheri in 1793: resigned his command in

1795, and left India in the next year: died June 21, 1830 (Compton,

_European Military Adventurers_, 15 ff.; Buckland, _Dict. of Indian

Biography_, s.v.).]

Footnote 4.17.15:

Acquired from the actors in those scenes: the prince, his ministers,

Zalim Singh and the rival chiefs have all contributed.

Footnote 4.17.16:

It was levied as follows:

Salumbar Lakhs 3

Deogarh ” 3

Singingir Gosain, their adviser ” 2

Kosital ” 1

Amet ” 2

Kurabar ” 1

—

Lakhs 12

Footnote 4.17.17:

[Pāndhri, Pāndharapatti, a tax on shops, artisans, traders, and

persons not engaged in agriculture, levied on their persons,

implements, places of work, or traffic; the same as the Mahtarafa

(Wilson, _Glossary_, s.v.).]

Footnote 4.17.18:

Raepur Rajnagar from the Sindis; Gurla and Gadarmala from the

Purawats; Hamirgarh from Sardar Singh, and Kurj Kawaria from Salumbar.

Footnote 4.17.19:

In Bhadon, the third month of the rainy season. An account of this

festival will hereafter be given.

Footnote 4.17.20:

The first of these is now the manager of Prince Jawan Singh’s estates,

a man of no talent; and the latter, his brother, was one of the

ministers on my arrival at Udaipur. He was of invincible good humour,

yet full of the spirit of intrigue, and one of the bars to returning

prosperity. The cholera carried off this Falstaff of the court, not

much to my sorrow.

Footnote 4.17.21:

S. 1853, A.D. 1797.

Footnote 4.17.22:

This person was nominated the chief civil minister on the author’s

arrival at Udaipur, an office to which he was every way unequal. The

affairs of Mewar had never prospered since the faithful Pancholis were

deprived of power. Several productions of the descendants of Biharidas

have fallen into my hands; their quaint mode of conveying advice may

authorize their insertion here.

The Pancholis, who had performed so many services to the country, had

been for some time deprived of the office of prime minister, which was

disposed of as it suited the views of the factious nobles who held

power for the time being; and who bestowed it on the Mehtas, Depras,

or Dhabhais. Amongst the papers of the Pancholis, several addressed to

the Rana and to Agarji Mehta, the minister of the day, are valuable

for the patriotic sentiments they contain, as well as for the general

light they throw upon the period. In S. 1853 (A.D. 1797) Amrit Rao

devised a plan to remedy the evils that oppressed the country. He

inculcated the necessity of dispensing with the interference of the

Saktawats and Chondawats in the affairs of government, and

strengthening the hands of the civil administration by admitting the

foreign chieftains to the power he proposed to deprive the former of.

He proceeds in the following quaint style:

“Disease fastened on the country from the following causes, envy and

party spirit. With the Turks disease was introduced; but then the

prince, his ministers, and chiefs, were of one mind, and medicine was

ministered and a cure effected. During Rana Jai Singh’s time the

disorder returned, which his son Amra put down. He recovered the

affairs of government from confusion, gave to every one his proper

rank and dignity, and rendered all prosperous. But Maharana Sangram

Singh put from under his wing the Chandarawat of Rampura, and thus a

pinion of Mewar was broken. The calamity of Biharidas, whose son

committed suicide, increased the difficulties. The arrival of the

Deccanis under Bajirao, the Jaipur affair[4.17.21.A] and the defeat at

Rajmahall, with the heavy expenditure thereby occasioned, augmented

the disorder. Add to this in Jagat Singh’s time the enmity of the

Dhabhais towards the Pancholis, which lowered their dignities at home

and abroad, and since which time every man has thought himself equal

to the task of government. Jagat Singh was also afflicted by the

rebellious conduct of his son Partap, when Shyama Solanki and several

other chiefs were treacherously cut off. Since which time the minds of

the nobles have never been loyal, but black and not to be trusted.

Again, on the accession of Partap, Maharaja Nathji allowed his

thoughts to aspire, from which all his kin suffered. Hence

animosities, doubts, and deceits, arose on all sides. Add to this the

haughty proceeding of Amra Chand now in office; and besides the strife

of the Pancholis with each other, their enmity to the Depras. Hence

parties were formed which completely destroyed the credit of all. Yet,

notwithstanding, they abated none of their strife, which was the acme

to the disease. The feud between Kuman Singh and the Saktawats for the

possession of Hintha, aggravated the distresses. The treacherous

murder of Maharaja Nathji, and the consequent disgust and retreat of

Jaswant Singh of Deogarh; the setting up the impostor Ratna Singh and

Jhala Raghudeo’s struggle for office, with Amra Chand’s entertaining

the mercenaries of Sind, brought it to a crisis. The negligence

arising out of luxury, and the intrigues of the Dhabhais of Rana Arsi,

made it spread so as to defeat all attempt at cure. In S. 1829, on the

treacherous murder of the Rana by the Bundi prince, and the accession

of the minor Hamir, every one set up his own authority, so that there

was not even the semblance of government. And now you (to the Rana),

listening to the advice of Bhim Singh (Salumbar), and his brother,

Arjun, have taken foreigners[4.17.21.B] into pay, and thus riveted all

the former errors. You and Sri Baiji Raj (the royal mother), putting

confidence in foreigners and Deccanis, have rendered the disease

contagious; besides, your mind is gone. What can be done? Medicine may

yet be had. Let us unite and struggle to restore the duties of the

minister and we may conquer, or at least check its progress. If now

neglected, it will hereafter be beyond human power. The Deccanis are

the great sore. Let us settle their accounts, and at all events get

rid of them, or we lose the land for ever. At this time there are

treaties and engagements in every corner. I have touched on every

subject. Forgive whatever is improper. Let us look the future in the

face, and let chiefs, ministers, and all unite. With the welfare of

the country all will be well. But this is a disease which, if not now

conquered, will conquer us.”

A second paper as follows:

"The disease of the country is to be considered and treated as a

remittent.

"Amra Singh cured it and laid a complete system of government and

justice.

"In Sangram’s time it once more gained ground.

"In Jagat Singh’s time the seed was thrown into the ground thus

obtained.

"In Partap’s time it sprung up.

"In Raj Singh’s time it bore fruit.

"In Rana Arsi’s time it was ripe.

"In Hamir’s time it was distributed, and all have had a share.

“And you, Bhim Singh (the present Rana), have eaten plentifully

thereof. Its virtues and flavour you are acquainted with, and so

likewise is the country; and if you take no medicine you will

assuredly suffer much pain, and both at home and abroad you will be

lightly thought of. Be not therefore negligent, or faith and land will

depart from you.”

A third paper to Agarji Mehta (then minister):

"If the milk is curdled it does not signify. Where there is sense

butter may yet be extracted; and if the butter-milk (_chhachh_) is

thrown away it matters not. But if the milk be curdled and black it

will require wisdom to restore its purity. This wisdom is now wanted.

The foreigners are the black in the curdled milk of Mewar. At all

hazards remove them. Trust to them and the land is lost.

"In moonlight what occasion for a blue light? (_Chandra

jot_).[4.17.21.C]

"Who looks to the false coin of the juggler?

"Do not credit him who tells you he will make a pigeon out of a

feather.

“Abroad it is said there is no wisdom left in Mewar, which is a

disgrace to her reputation.”

Footnote 4.17.21.A:

The struggle to place the Rana’s nephew, Madho Singh, on the throne of

Jaipur.

Footnote 4.17.21.B:

The Pancholi must allude to the Mahratta subsidiary force under

Ambaji.

Footnote 4.17.21.C:

Literally, a ‘moonlight.’ The particular kind of firework which we

call a ‘blue light.’

Footnote 4.17.23:

[Mahādaji Sindhia, commonly and erroneously called Mādhava Rāo, died

near Poona, January 12, 1794. See his life by H. G. Keene, ‘Rulers of

India’ series; Grant Duff, _Hist. of Mahrattas_, 343 ff.; W. Franklin,

_Hist. of Shah-Aulum_, 119 ff.]

Footnote 4.17.24:

There are three classes of Mahratta Brahmans: Shenvi, Prabhu, and

Mahratta. Of the first was Lakwa, Balabha Tantia, Jiwa Dada, Sivaji

Nana, Lalaji Pandit, and Jaswant Rao Bhao, men who held the mortgaged

lands of Mewar. [There are four groups of Marātha Brāhmans:

Konkanasthas, Deshasthas, Karhādas, and Kanvas. The Prabhus are not

Brāhmans, but the writer caste, like the Kāyasths of Hindustān (J.

Wilson, _Indian Caste_, 1877, ii. 17 ff.). The word Shenvi is a

corruption of _chhiyānavē_, ‘ninety-six,’ from the supposed number of

their sections.]

Footnote 4.17.25:

I knew him well. He stood six feet six inches, and was bulky in

proportion. His limbs rivalled those of the Hercules Farnese. His

father was nearly seven feet, and died at the early age of twenty-two,

in a vain attempt to keep down, by regimen and medicine, his enormous

bulk.

Footnote 4.17.26:

[This is perhaps Captain Butterfield, who served in Sindhia’s force

under Colonel Sutherland. He behaved gallantly in action against Lakwa

Dāda, for which he received a flattering letter from Perron: no

further mention of him has been traced (Compton, _Military

Adventurers_, 344).]

Footnote 4.17.27:

[For Colonel Robert Sutherland, known to natives as ‘Sutlej Sahib,’

see Compton, 410 ff.]

Footnote 4.17.28:

[For the remarkable career of George Thomas, who nearly succeeded in

forming a kingdom of his own on the ruins of the Empire in N. India,

see Compton, 109 f.; W. Franklin, _Military Memoirs of Mr. G. Thomas_,

1803.]

Footnote 4.17.29:

Both camps were on the right bank of the Banas: Lakwa’s at Amli, about

ten miles south of Shahpura, and Nana’s at Kadera, between these

towns.

Footnote 4.17.30:

Lakwa at this time [S. 1856, A.D. 1799] put the Shahpura Raja in

possession of the important fortress and district of Jahazpur, which,

although the Rana consented to it, covertly receiving from the Raja

two lakhs of rupees, disgusted the nobles with Lakwa.

Footnote 4.17.31:

Balabha Tantia and Bakhshu Narayan Rao were Sindhia’s ministers at

this period, of the same tribe (the Shenvi) as Lakwa.

Footnote 4.17.32:

[October 14, 1801 (Grant Duff 555).]

Footnote 4.17.33:

[Krishna.]

Footnote 4.17.34:

Five-and-twenty [about thirty] miles north of Udaipur. On this subject

we shall have much to say hereafter.

Footnote 4.17.35:

S. 1859 (A.D. 1803).

Footnote 4.17.36:

[Hyder Young Hearsey (1782-3-1840), son of Captain Harry Thomas

Hearsey by a Jāt lady, served Sindhia under Perron, and also George

Thomas, joined Lord Lake at Dīg in 1804: taken prisoner in the Nepāl

war of 1815: present at the siege of Bharatpur: died near Budāun

(Buckland, _Dict. Indian Biography_, s.v.).]

Footnote 4.17.37:

In S. 1860 (A.D. 1804).

Footnote 4.17.38:

At this juncture an officer of Holkar’s, Harnath Chela, on passing

through Bansain, had some camels carried off by the Bhils of the

Satola estate. Harnath summoned Gulab Singh Chondawat, who came with

eight of his relatives, when he was told he should be detained till

the cattle were restored; and in the morning, as the Mahratta mounted

his elephant, he commanded the Raghaut chieftain to be seized. Gulab

drew his sword and made at Harnath, but his sword broke in the howda,

when he plunged his dagger into the elephant; but at length he and all

his relations, who nobly plied their swords on the Mahrattas, were cut

to pieces.

Footnote 4.17.39:

[For a graphic account of these camps see T. D. Broughton, _Letters

written in a Mahratta Camp during the year 1809_, ed. 1892.]

Footnote 4.17.40:

The Rana of Gohad and Gwalior, the Khichi chiefs of Raghugarh and

Bahadurgarh, and the Nawab of Bhopal, made common cause with us in

Warren Hastings’ time. The first three possess not a shadow of

independence; the last fortunately formed a link in our own policy,

and Lord Hastings, in 1818, repaid with liberal interest the services

rendered to the government of Warren Hastings in 1782. It was in his

power, with equal facility, to have rescued all the other States, and

to have claimed the same measure of gratitude which Bhopal is proud to

avow. But there was a fatality in the desire to maintain terms with

Sindhia, whose treachery to our power was overlooked.

Footnote 4.17.41:

The author, then a subaltern, was attached to the suite of the

ambassador, Mr. Græme Mercer. He left the subsidiary force at Gwalior

in December 1805, and the embassy reached Sindhia’s court in the

spring of 1806, then encamped amidst the ruins of Mewar.

Footnote 4.17.42:

The ministers of Sindhia were Ambaji, Bapu Chitnavis, Madhuba Huzuria,

and Anaji Bhaskar.

Footnote 4.17.43:

[Baiza Bāi, widow of Daulat Rāo Sindhia, who died in 1827, was an

unscrupulous, designing woman, whose intrigues at Gwalior forced her

to take refuge in British territory. She returned after an interval

and lived at Gwalior until her death in 1862 (_IGI_, xii. 424).]

Footnote 4.17.44:

That is, chief of the race from which issued the Satara sovereigns,

whose minister, the Peshwa, accounted Sindhia and Holkar his

feudatories.

Footnote 4.17.45:

Rangra is an epithet applied to the Rajputs, implying turbulent, from

_rana_, ‘strife.’ [Rāngar is the title of a body of turbulent,

predatory Muhammadans, who claim Rājput descent, occupying parts of

the E. Panjāb and W. districts of the Ganges-Jumna Duāb. The

derivation suggested is very doubtful (Crooke, _Tribes and Castes,

N.W.P. and Oudh_, v. 227 ff.).]

Footnote 4.17.46:

[In October 1805 (Grant Duff 601).]

Footnote 4.17.47:

[Jean Baptiste de la Fontaine Filoze (1775-1840) assisted in the

campaign against Thomas in 1801. In the war with the English, part of

his brigade under Dupont was defeated at Assaye. He was afterwards

ill-treated by Sindhia, but was reinstated. Some of his descendants

are still in Sindhia’s service (Compton, _European Military

Adventurers_, 352 ff.; Sleeman, _Rambles_, 115, note). He is

frequently mentioned in Broughton, _Letters written in a Mahratta

Camp_.]

Footnote 4.17.48:

To increase his importance, Sindhia invited the British envoy and

suite to be present on the occasion, when the princely demeanour of

the Rana and his sons was advantageously contrasted with that of the

Mahratta and his suite. It was in this visit that the regal abode of

this ancient race, its isles and palaces, acted with irresistible

force on the cupidity of this scion of the plough, who aspired to, yet

dared not seat himself in, ‘the halls of the Caesars.’ It was even

surmised that his hostility to Jaipur was not so much from the refused

war-contribution, as from a mortifying negative to an audacious desire

to obtain the hand of this princess himself. The impression made on

the author upon this occasion by the miseries and noble appearance of

‘this descendant of a hundred kings,’ was never allowed to weaken, but

kindled an enthusiastic desire for the restoration of his fallen

condition, which stimulated his perseverance to obtain that knowledge

by which alone he might be enabled to benefit him. Then a young

_Sub._, his hopes of success were more sanguine than wise; but he

trusted to the rapid march of events, and the discordant elements by

which he was surrounded, to effect the redemption of the prince from

thraldom. It was a long dream—but after ten years of anxious hope, at

length realized—and he had the gratification of being instrumental in

snatching the family from destruction, and subsequently of raising the

country to comparative prosperity.

Footnote 4.17.49:

I witnessed the commencement and the end of this drama, and have

conversed with actors in all the intermediate scenes. In June 1806 the

passes of Udaipur were forced; and in January 1808, when I passed

through Jaipur in a solitary ramble, the fragments of this contest

were scattered over its sandy plains.

Footnote 4.17.50:

[Amīr Khān, ally of the Pindāris and ancestor of the present Nawābs of

Tonk. A treaty between him and the British was signed on December 19,

1817, by which his State was recognized. He died in 1834. See his Life

by Basāwan Lāl, translated by Thoby Prinsep; Malcolm, _Memoirs of

Central India_, 2nd ed. ii. 325 ff.]

Footnote 4.17.51:

Harem.

Footnote 4.17.52:

I knew him well—a plain honest man.

Footnote 4.17.53:

Alluding to the custom of infanticide—here, very rare; indeed, almost

unknown.

Footnote 4.17.54:

With my mind engrossed with the scenes in which I had passed the

better part of my life, I went two months after my return from

Rajputana, in 1823, to York Cathedral, to attend the memorable

festival of that year. The sublime recitations of Handel in ‘Jephtha’s

Vow,’ the sonorous woe of Sapio’s ‘Deeper and deeper still,’

powerfully recalled the sad exit of the Rajputni; and the

representation shortly after of Racine’s tragedy of ‘Iphigénie,’ with

Talma as Achille, Duchesnois as Clytemnestre, and a very interesting

personation of the victim daughter of Agamemnon, again served to waken

the remembrance of this sacrifice. The following passage, embodying

not only the sentiments, but couched in the precise language in which

the ‘Virgin Krishna’ addressed her father—proving that human nature

was but one mode of expression for the same feelings—I am tempted to

transcribe:

... “Mon père,

Cessez de vous troubler, vous n’êtes point trahi.

Quand vous commanderez, vous serez obéi:

Ma vie est votre bien. Vous voulez le reprendre,

Vos ordres, sans détour, pouvaient se faire entendre;

D’un œil aussi content, d’un cœur aussi soumis,

Que j’acceptais l’époux que vous m’aviez promis,

Je saurai, s’il le faut, victime obéissante

Tendre au fer de Calchas une tête innocente;

Et respectant le coup par vous-même ordonné,

Vous rendre tout le sang que vous m’avez donné.”

Footnote 4.17.55:

Bappa Rawal.

Footnote 4.17.56:

The kusumbha draught is made of flowers and herbs of a cooling

quality; into this an opiate was introduced.

Footnote 4.17.57:

The simple but powerful expression of the narrator.

Footnote 4.17.58:

The tribe of the Rana.

Footnote 4.17.59:

That is, without adoption even to perpetuate it.

Footnote 4.17.60:

A respectful epithet to the prince—_sire_.

Footnote 4.17.61:

By the same mother.

Footnote 4.17.62:

He was nearly carried off by that awful scourge, the cholera, and,

singular to remark, was the first person attacked at Udaipur. I

remained by his bedside during the progress of this terrible

visitation, and never shall I forget his grateful exclamation of

surprise, when after a salutary sleep he opened his eyes to health.

Shirji Mehta, his chief adviser and manager of his estates, merry as

ever, though the heir of Mewar was given over, was seized with the

complaint as his master recovered—was dead and his ashes blanching on

the sands of the streamlet of Ar within twelve hours! Jovial and

good-humoured as he was, “we could have better spared a better man.”

He was an adept in intrigue; of Ambaji’s school; and till death shall

extinguish the whole of this, and better morals are born, the country

will but slowly improve. [Mahārāna Jawān Singh (1828-38) succeeded on

the death of his father, Bhīm Singh, on March 31, 1828. He gave

himself up to debauchery, and died without issue on August 30, 1838,

being succeeded by his adopted son, Sardār Singh.]

Footnote 4.17.63:

Since this work has gone to press, the author has been rejoiced to

find that an heir has been born from the last marriage by a princess

of Riwa of the Baghela tribe.

Footnote 4.17.64:

See genealogical descendants of Rana Jagat Singh. Appendix, No. VIII.

Footnote 4.17.65:

This was written at Udaipur in 1820. This old intriguer then attempted

to renew the past, as the organ of the Chondawats, but his scheme

ended in exile to the sacred city of Benares; and there he may now be

seen with his rosary on the consecrated _ghat_ of the Ganges.

Footnote 4.17.66:

Brigadier-General Alexander Knox had the honour of dissolving these

bands in the only way worthy of us. He marched his troops to take

their guns and disperse their legions; and, when in order of battle,

the gallant General taking out his watch, gave them half an hour to

reflect, their commander Jamshid, second only in villainy to his

master, deeming ‘discretion the better part of valour,’ surrendered.

Footnote 4.17.67:

There are full this number of princes holding under the British.

Footnote 4.17.68:

This veteran attended me during all these troubles, as the medium of

communication with the Rana. Though leagued with the Chondawats, he

was a loyal subject and good servant. I saw him expire, and was of

opinion, as well as the doctor who accompanied me, that his death was

caused by poison. The general burst of sorrow from hundreds collected

around his house, when the event was announced, is the best encomium

on his public character.

Footnote 4.17.69:

This monstrous villain (for he was a Goliath) died soon after Mewar

was rescued, from a cancer in his back.

Footnote 4.17.70:

Satidas, Kishandas, and Rup Ram.

Footnote 4.17.71:

Bapu Sindhia shortly outlived his expulsion from Ajmer, and as he had

to pass through Mewar in his passage to his future residence, he was

hooted by the population he had plundered. While I was attending the

Rana’s court, some one reporting Bapu Sindhia’s arrival at his

destination, mentioned that some pieces of ordnance formerly taken

from Udaipur had, after saluting him, exuded a quantity of water,

which was received with the utmost gravity by the court, until I

remarked they were crying because they should never again be employed

in plunder: an idea which caused a little mirth.

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