CHAPTER 18

=Degraded Condition of the Rājputs.=—The history of the Rana’s family

has now been traced through all the vicissitudes of its fortunes, from

the second to the nineteenth century, whilst contending for existence,

alternately with Parthians, Bhils, Tartars, and Mahrattas, till at

length it has become tributary to Britain. The last chapter portrays the

degraded condition of their princes, and the utter desolation of their

country, in a picture which embodied the entire Rajput race. An era of

repose at length dawned upon them. The destruction of that vast

predatory system, under the weight of which the prosperity of these

regions had so long been repressed, was effected by one short campaign

in 1817; which if less brilliant than that of 1803, is inferior to none

in political results. The tardy policy of the last-named period, at

length accomplished, placed the power of Britain in the East on an

expugnable position, and rescued the Rajputs from a progressing

destruction.

=Alliances with the British.=—To prevent the recurrence of this

predatory system it was deemed politic to unite all these settled

States, alike interested with ourselves in its overthrow, in one grand

confederation. Accordingly the Rajput States were invited to shelter

[472] under our protecting alliance; and with one exception (Jaipur),

they eagerly embraced the invitation. The ambassadors of the various

governments followed each other in quick succession to Delhi, where the

treaties were to be negotiated, and in a few weeks all Rajputana was

united to Britain by compacts of one uniform character;[4.18.1] insuring

to them external protection with internal independence, as the price of

acknowledged supremacy, and a portion of revenue to the protecting

government. By this comprehensive arrangement, we placed a most powerful

barrier between our territories and the strong natural frontier of

India; and so long as we shall respect their established usages, and by

contributing to the prosperity of the people preserve our motives from

distrust, it will be a barrier impenetrable to invasion.

=Treaty with Mewār.=—Of all the princes who obtained succour at this

momentous crisis in the political history of India, none stood more in

need of it than the Rana of Udaipur. On January 16, 1818, the treaty was

signed, and in February an envoy was nominated; who immediately

proceeded to the Rana’s court, to superintend and maintain the newly

formed relations.[4.18.2] The right wing of the grand army[4.18.3] had

already preceded him to compel the surrender of such territory as was

unjustly held by the lawless partisans of Sindhia, and to reduce to

obedience the refractory nobles, to whom anarchy was endeared from long

familiarity. The strongholds in the plains as Raepur, Rajnagar, etc.,

soon surrendered; and the payment of the arrears of the garrison of

Kumbhalmer put this important fortress in our possession.

In his passage from Jahazpur, which guards the range on the east to

Kumbhalmer on the Aravalli west, a space of 140 miles, the limits of

Mewar, only two thinly peopled towns were seen which acknowledged the

Rana’s authority. All was desolate; even the traces of the footsteps of

man were effaced. The babul (_mimosa_ [_acacia_] _Arabica_), and

gigantic reed, which harboured the boar and the tiger, grew upon the

highways; and every rising ground displayed a mass of ruin. Bhilwara,

the commercial _entrepôt_ of Rajputana, which ten years before contained

six thousand [473] families, showed not a vestige of existence. All was

silent in her streets—no living thing was seen except a solitary dog,

that fled in dismay from his lurking-place in the temple, scared at the

unaccustomed sight of man.[4.18.4]

=Cession of Kumbhalmer.=—An envoy was dispatched by the Rana to

congratulate the Agent, who joined him in the British camp at Nathdwara;

and while he returned to arrange the formalities of reception, the Agent

obtained the cession of Kumbhalmer; which, with the acquisitions before

mentioned, paved the way for a joyful reception. The prince, Javan

Singh, with all the State insignia, and a numerous cortège, advanced to

receive the mission, and conduct it to the capital. A spot was fixed on

in a grove of palmyras, about two miles from the city, where carpets

were spread, and where the prince received the Agent and suite in a

manner at once courteous and dignified.[4.18.5] Of him it might have

been said, in the language applied by Jahangir to the son of Rana

Amra—“His countenance carried the impression of his illustrious

extraction.”

=Arrival of the Author as Agent.=—We entered the city[4.18.6] by the

gate of the sun; and through a vista of ruin the mission was inducted

into its future residence, once the abode of the fair Rampiyari.[4.18.7]

Like all the mansions of Rajputana, it was a quadrangular pile, with an

open paved area, the suites of apartments carried round the sides, with

latticed or open corridors extending parallel to each suite. Another

deputation with the _mehmani_, consisting of a hundred trays of

sweetmeats, dried fruits, and a purse of one thousand rupees for

distribution amongst the domestics, brought the Rana’s welcome upon our

arrival in his capital, and fixed the next day for our introduction at

court.

At four in the afternoon, a deputation, consisting of the officiating

prime minister, the representative of the Chondawats, with mace-bearers

and a numerous escort, came to announce the Rana’s readiness to receive

the mission; which, with all the ‘pomp and circumstance’ peculiar to

these countries, was marshalled in front of the residency, thronged by

crowds of well-dressed [474] inhabitants, silently gazing at the unusual

sight.[4.18.8] The grand Nakkaras having announced the Rana in court,

the mission proceeded through streets which everywhere presented marks

of rapine, hailed by the most enthusiastic greetings. “Jai! jai! Farangi

ka Raj!” “Victory, victory to the English Government!” resounded from

every tongue. The bards were not idle; and the unpoetic name of the

Agent was hitched into rhyme. Groups of musicians were posted here and

there, who gave a passing specimen of the _tappas_[4.18.9] of Mewar; and

not a few of the fair, with brazen ewers of water on their heads,

welcomed us with the _suhelia_, or songs of joy. Into each of these

vessels the purse-bearer dropped a piece of silver; for neither the

songs of the suhelia, the tappas of the minstrel, nor encomiastic stave

of the bard, are to be received without some acknowledgement that you

appreciate their merit and talents, however you may doubt the value they

put upon your own. As we ascended the main street leading to the

Tripolia, or triple portal, which guards the sacred enclosure, dense

masses of people obstructed our progress, and even the walls of the

temple of Jagannath were crowded. According to etiquette, we dismounted

at the Porte, and proceeded on foot across the ample terrace; on which

were drawn up a few elephants and horse, exercising for the Rana’s

amusement.

=The Palace at Udaipur.=—The palace is a most imposing pile, of a

regular form, built of granite and marble, rising at least a hundred

feet from the ground, and flanked with octagonal towers, crowned with

cupolas. Although built at various periods, uniformity of design has

been very well preserved; nor is there in the East a more striking or

majestic structure. It stands upon the very crest of a ridge running

parallel to, but considerably elevated above, the margin of the lake.

The terrace, which is at the east and chief front of the palace, extends

throughout its length, and is supported by a triple row of arches from

the declivity of the ridge. The height of this arcaded wall is fully

fifty feet; and although all is hollow beneath, yet so admirably is it

constructed, that an entire range of stables is built on the extreme

verge of the terrace, on which the whole personal force of the Rana,

elephants, horse, and foot, are often assembled. From this terrace the

city and the valley lay before the spectator, whose vision is bounded

only by the [475] hills shutting out the plains; while from the summit

of the palace nothing obstructs its range over lake and mountain.

A band of Sindis guarded the first entrance to the palace; and being

Saturday, the Saktawats were on duty in the great hall of assembly.

Through lines of Rajputs we proceeded till we came to the marble

staircase, the steps of which had taken the form of the segment of an

ellipse, from the constant friction of the foot; an image of Ganesha

guarded the ascent to the interior of the palace, and the apartment, or

landing, is called Ganesha deori, from the Rajput Janus. After

proceeding through a suite of saloons, each filled with spectators, the

herald’s voice announced to ‘the lord of the world’ that the English

envoy was in his presence; on which he arose, and advanced a few paces

in front of the throne, the chieftains standing to receive the mission.

Everything being ruled by precedent, the seat allotted for the envoy was

immediately in front and touching the royal cushion (_gaddi_): being

that assigned to the Peshwa in the height of Mahratta prosperity, the

arrangement, which was a subject of regular negotiation, could not be

objected to. The apartment chosen for the initiatory visit was the Surya

mahall, or ‘hall of the sun,’ so called from a medallion of the orb in

basso-rilievo which decorates the wall. Close thereto is placed the

Rana’s throne, above which, supported by slender silver columns, rises a

velvet canopy. The Gaddi, or throne, in the East is but a huge cushion,

over which is thrown an embroidered velvet mantle. The chiefs of the

higher grade, or ‘the Sixteen,’ were seated, according to their rank, on

the right and left of the Rana; next and below these were the princes

Amra and Javan Singh; and at right angles (by which the court formed

three sides of a square), the chiefs of the second rank. The civil

officers of the State were near the Rana in front, and the seneschal,

butler, keeper of the wardrobe, and other confidential officers and

inferior chieftains, formed a group standing on the extreme edge of the

carpet.

The Rana’s congratulations were hearty and sincere: in a few powerful

expressions he depicted the miseries he had experienced, the fallen

condition of his State, and the gratitude he felt to the British

Government which had interposed between him and destruction; and which

for the first moment of his existence allowed him to sleep in peace.

There was an intense earnestness in every word he uttered, which,

delivered with great fluency of speech and dignity of manner, inspired

deep respect and sympathy. The Agent said that the Governor-General was

no stranger to the [476] history of his illustrious family, or to his

own immediate sufferings; and that it was his earnest desire to promote,

by every means in his power, the Rana’s personal dignity and the

prosperity of his dominions. After conversing a few minutes, the

interview was closed with presents to the Agent and suite: to the former

a caparisoned elephant and horse, jewelled aigrette, and pearl necklace,

with shawls and brocades; and with the customary presentation of essence

of rose and the pan leaf the Rana and court rising, the envoy made his

salaam and retired. In a short time the Rana, attended by his second

son, ministers, and a select number of the chiefs, honoured the envoy

with a visit. The latter advanced beyond his residence to meet the

prince, who was received with presented arms by the guard, the officers

saluting, and conducted to his throne, which had been previously

arranged. Conversation was now unrestrained, and questions were demanded

regarding everything which appeared unusual. After sitting half an hour,

the Agent presented the Rana with an elephant and two horses,

caparisoned with silver and gilt ornaments and velvet embroidered

housings, with twenty-one shields[4.18.10] of shawls, brocades, muslins,

and jewels; to prince Amra, unable from sickness to attend his father, a

horse and eleven shields; and to his brother, the second prince, Javan

Singh, a horse and nine shields; to the ministers and chiefs according

to rank: the whole entertainment costing about 20,000 rupees, or £2000.

Amidst these ceremonials, receiving and returning visits of the Rana,

his chiefs, his ministers, and men of influence and information

commercial and agricultural, some weeks passed in silent observation,

and in the acquisition of materials for action.[4.18.11]

=Political Divisions of Mewār.=—For the better comprehension of the

internal relations, past and present, of Mewar [477], a sketch is

presented, showing the political divisions of the tribes and the fiscal

domain, from which a better idea may be formed of Rajput feudal economy

than from a chapter of dissertation. The princes of Mewar skilfully

availed themselves of their natural advantages in the partition of the

country. The mountain-barriers east and west were allotted to the chiefs

to keep the mountaineers and foresters in subjection, whose leading

passes were held by a lord-marcher, and the quotas of his quarter; and

while strong forts guarded the exposed northern and southern entrances,

the crown-land lay in the centre, the safest and the richest. The

exterior, thus guarded by a cordon of feudal levies composed of the

quotas of the greater fiefs; the minor and most numerous class of

vassals, termed _gol_, literally ‘the mass,’ and consisting of ten

thousand horse, each holding directly of the crown independent of the

greater chiefs, formed its best security against both external

aggression and internal commotions.

=Desolation of Mewār.=—Such is a picture of the feudal economy of Mewar

in the days of her renown; but so much had it been defaced through time

and accident, that with difficulty could the lineaments be traced with a

view to their restoration: her institutions a dead letter, the prince’s

authority despised, the nobles demoralized and rebellious, internal

commerce abandoned, and the peasantry destroyed by the combined

operation of war, pestilence, and exile. Expression might be racked for

phrases which could adequately delineate the miseries all classes had

endured. It is impossible to give more than a sketch of the state of the

_das sahas Mewar_, ‘the ten thousand townships’ which once acknowledged

her princes, and of which above three thousand still exist. All that

remained to them was the valley of the capital; and though Chitor and

Mandalgarh were maintained by the fidelity of the Rana’s servants, their

precarious revenues scarcely sufficed to maintain their garrisons. The

Rana was mainly indebted to Zalim Singh of Kotah for the means of

subsistence; for in the struggle for existence his chiefs thought only

of themselves, of defending their own estates, or buying off their foes;

while those who had succumbed took to horse, scoured the country, and

plundered without distinction. Inferior clanships declared themselves

independent of their superiors, who in their turn usurped the crown

domain, or by bribing the necessities of their prince, obtained his

patent for lands, to which, as they yielded him nothing, he became

indifferent. The crown-tenants purchased of these chiefs the protection

(_rakhwali_) which the [478] Rana could not grant, and made alienations

of the crown taxes, besides private rights of the community, which were

often extorted at the point of the lance. Feuds multiplied, and the name

of each clan became the watchword of alarm or defiance to its neighbour:

castles were assaulted, and their inmates, as at Sheogarh and Lawa, put

to the sword; the Meras and Bhils descended from their hills, or emerged

from their forests, and planted ambuscades for the traveller or

merchant, whom they robbed or carried to their retreats, where they

languished in durance till ransomed. Marriage processions were thus

intercepted, and the honeymoon was passed on a cliff of the Aravalli, or

in the forests on the Mahi. The Rajput, whose moral energies were

blunted, scrupled not to associate and to divide the spoil with these

lawless tribes, of whom it might be said, as of the children of Ishmael,

“Their hands were against every man, and every man’s hand against them.”

Yet notwithstanding such entire disorganization of society, external

commerce was not stagnant; and in the midst of this rapine, the produce

of Europe and Kashmir would pass each other in transit through Mewar,

loaded it is true by a multiplicity of exactions, but guarded by those

who scorned all law but the point of honour, which they were paid for

preserving.

=The Condition of Udaipur.=—The capital will serve as a specimen of the

country. Udaipur, which formerly reckoned fifty thousand houses within

the walls, had not now three thousand occupied, the rest were in ruin,

the rafters being taken for firewood. The realization of the spring

harvest of 1818, from the entire fiscal land, was about £4000! Grain

sold for seven sers the rupee, though thrice the quantity was procurable

within the distance of eighty miles. Insurance from the capital to

Nathdwara (twenty-five miles) was eight per cent. The Kotharia chief,

whose ancestors are immortalized for fidelity, had not a horse to

conduct him to his prince’s presence, though his estates were of fifty

thousand rupees annual value. All were in ruins; and the Rana, the

descendant of those patriot Rajputs who opposed Babur, Akbar, and

Aurangzeb, in the days of Mogul splendour, had not fifty horse to attend

him, and was indebted for all the comforts he possessed to the

liberality of Kotah.

=Reorganization of the State.=—Such was the chaos from which order was

to be evoked. But the elements of prosperity, though scattered, were not

extinct; and recollections of the past, deeply engraved in the national

mind, became available to reanimate their moral and physical existence.

To call these forth demanded only the exertion of moral [479]

interference, and every other was rejected. The lawless freebooter, and

even the savage Bhil, felt awed at the agency of a power never seen. To

him moral opinion (compared with which the strength of armies is nought)

was inexplicable, and he substituted in its stead another invisible

power—that of magic: and the belief was current throughout the intricate

region of the West, that a single individual could carry an army in his

pocket, and that our power could animate slips of paper cut into the

figures of armed men, from which no precaution could guard their

retreats. Accordingly, at the mere name of the British power, rapine

ceased, and the inhabitants of the wilds of the West, the ‘forest

lords,’ who had hitherto laughed at subjection, to the number of seven

hundred villages, put each the sign of the dagger to a treaty, promising

abstinence from plunder and a return to industrious life—a single

individual of no rank the negotiator. Moreover, the treaty was

religiously kept for twelve months; when the peace was broken, not by

them, but against them.

To the Rajput, the moral spectacle of a Peshwa marched into exile with

all the quietude of a pilgrimage, effected more than twenty thousand

bayonets, and no other auxiliary was required than the judicious use of

the impressions from this and other passing events, to relay the

foundations of order and prosperity—by never doubting the issue, success

was insured. The British force, therefore, after the reduction of the

plans enumerated, was marched to cantonments; the rest was left for time

and reason to accomplish.

=Form of Civil Government.=—Before proceeding further, it may be

convenient to sketch the form of civil government in Mewar, and the

characters of its most conspicuous members: the former we shall describe

as it was when the machine was in regular action; it will be found

simple, and perfectly suited to its object.

There are four grand officers of the government:

1. The Pardhan, or prime minister.

2. Bakhshi, commander of the forces.

3. Suratnama, keeper of the records.

4. Sahai, keeper of the signet.[4.18.12]

The first, the Pardhan, or civil premier, must be of the non-militant

tribe. The whole of the territorial and financial arrangements are

vested in him. He [480] nominates the civil governors of districts, and

the collectors of the revenue and custom; and has fourteen _thuas_, or

departments, under him, which embrace all that relates to expenditure.

2. The Bakhshi must also be of a non-militant tribe, and one different

from the Pardhan. His duties are mixed civil and military. He takes the

musters, and pays mercenaries, or rations, to the feudal tenants when on

extra service, and he appoints a deputy to accompany all expeditions, or

to head frontier-posts, with the title of Faujdar, or commander. The

royal insignia, the standard, and kettle-drums accompany him, and the

highest nobles assemble under the general control of this civil officer,

never under one of their own body. From the Bakhshi’s bureau all patents

are issued, as also all letters of sequestration of feudal land.

The Bakhshi has four secretaries:

1. Draws out deeds.

2. Accountant.

3. Recorder of all patents or grants.

4. Keeps duplicates.

3. The Suratnama[4.18.13] is the auditor and recorder of all the

household expenditure and establishments, which are paid by his cheques.

He has four assistants also, who make a daily report, and give a daily

balance of accounts.

4. The Sahai. He is secretary both for home and foreign correspondence.

He draws out the royal grants or patents of estates, and superintends

the deeds of grant on copper-plate to religious establishments. Since

the privilege appertaining to Salumbar, of confirming all royal grants

with his signet the lance, has fallen into desuetude, the Sahai executes

this military autograph.[4.18.14]

To all decrees, from the daily stipend to the _patta_, or patent of an

estate, each minister must append his seal, so that there is a complete

system of check. Besides these, the higher officers of government, there

are thirty-six _karkhanas_, or inferior officers, appointed directly by

the Rana, the most conspicuous of which are the justiciary,[4.18.15] the

keepers of the register-office, of the mint, of the armoury, of the

regalia, of the jewels, of the wardrobe, of the stables, of the kitchen,

of the band, of the seneschalsy, and of the seraglio.

There was no want of aspirants to office, here hereditary; but it was

vain to look [481] amongst the descendants of the virtuous Pancholi, or

the severe Amrachand, and the prediction of the former, “Dust will cover

the head of Mewar when virtue wanders in rags,” was strictly fulfilled.

There appeared no talent, no influence, no honesty; yet the deficiency

was calculated to excite sorrow rather than surprise; to stimulate

exertion on their behalf, rather than damp the hope of improvement;

though all scope for action, save in the field of intrigue, was lost,

and talent was dormant for want of exercise.

=Incapacity of the Rāna.=—The Rana’s character was little calculated to

supply his minister’s deficiencies. Though perfectly versed in the past

history of his country, its resources, and their management; though

able, wise, and amiable, his talents were nullified by numerous weak

points. Vain shows, frivolous amusements, and an ill-regulated

liberality alone occupied him; and so long as he could gratify these

propensities, he trusted complacently to the exertions of others for the

restoration of order and his proper authority. He had little steadiness

of purpose, and was particularly obnoxious to female influence. It is

scarcely to be wondered that he coveted repose, and was little desirous

to disturb the only moment his existence had presented of enjoying it,

by inviting the turmoils of business. No man, however, was more capable

of advising: his judgment was good, but he seldom followed its dictates;

in short, he was an adept in theory, and a novice in practice. The only

man about the court at once of integrity and efficiency was Kishandas,

who had long acted as ambassador, and to whose assiduity the sovereign

and the country owed much; but his services were soon cut off by death.

Such were the materials with which the work of reform commenced. The aim

was to bring back matters to a correspondence with an era of their

history, when the rights of the prince, the vassal, and the cultivator,

were alike well defined—that of Amra Singh.

=Relations of the Rāna with his Nobles.=—The first point to effect was

the recognition of the prince’s authority by his nobles; the surest sign

of which was their presence at the capital, where some had never been,

and others only when it suited their convenience or their views. In a

few weeks the Rana saw himself surrounded by a court such as had not

been known for half a century. It created no small curiosity to learn by

what secret power they were brought into each other’s presence. Even the

lawless Hamira, who but a short while before had plundered the marriage

dower of the Hari queen [482] coming from Kotah, and the chief of the

Sangawat clan, who had sworn “he might bend his head to woman, but never

to his sovereign,” left their castles of Badesar and Deogarh, and

“placing the royal rescript on their heads,” hastened to his presence;

and in a few weeks the whole feudal association of Mewar was embodied in

the capital.

=Return of the Exiles.=—To recall the exiled population was a measure

simultaneous with the assembling of the nobles; but this was a work

requiring time: they had formed ties, and incurred obligations to the

societies which had sheltered them, which could not at once be

disengaged or annulled. But wherever a subject of Mewar existed,

proclamations penetrated, and satisfactory assurances were obtained, and

realized to an extent which belied in the strongest manner the assertion

that patriotism is unknown to the natives of Hindustan. The most

enthusiastic and cheering proofs were afforded that neither oppression

from without, nor tyranny within, could expel the feeling for the

_bapota_, the land of their fathers. Even now, though time has chastened

the impressions, we should fear to pen but a tithe of the proofs of

devotion of the husbandman of Mewar to the _solum natale_: it would be

deemed romance by those who never contemplated humanity in its reflux

from misery and despair to the ‘sweet influences’ of hope; he alone who

had witnessed the day of trouble, and beheld the progress of

desolation—the standing corn grazed by Mahratta horse—the rifled towns

devoted to the flames—the cattle driven to the camp, and the chief men

seized as hostages for money never to be realized—could appreciate their

deliverance. To be permitted to see these evils banished, to behold the

survivors of oppression congregated from the most distant provinces,

many of them strangers to each other, and the aged and the helpless

awaiting the lucky day to take possession of their ruined abodes, was a

sight which memory will not part with. Thus on the 3rd of Sawan

(July),[4.18.16] a favourite day with the husbandman, three hundred of

all conditions, with their waggons and implements of labour, and

preceded by banners and music, marched into Kapasan;[4.18.17] and

Ganesha was once again invoked as they reconsecrated their dwellings,

and placed his portrait as the Janus of the portals. On the same day,

and within eight months subsequent to the signature of the treaty, above

three hundred towns and villages were simultaneously reinhabited; and

the land, which for many years had been a stranger to the plough-share,

was broken up. Well might [483] the superstitious fancy that miracles

were abroad; for even to those who beheld the work in progression it had

a magical result, to see the waste covered with habitations, and the

verdant corn growing in the fields where lately they had roused the boar

from his retreat! It was a day of pride for Britain! By such exertions

of her power in these distant lands her sway is hallowed. By Britain

alone can this fair picture be defaced; the tranquillity and

independence she has conferred, by her alone may be disturbed!

=Attraction of Capital.=—To these important preliminary measures, the

assembly of the nobles and recall of the population, was added a third,

without which the former would have been nugatory. There was no wealth,

no capital, to aid their patriotism and industry. Foreign merchants and

bankers had abandoned the devoted land; and those who belonged to it

partook of her poverty and her shame. Money was scarce, and want of

faith and credit had increased the usury on loans to a ruinous extent.

The Rana borrowed at thirty-six per cent; besides twenty-five to forty

per cent discount for his _barats_, or patents empowering collection on

the land; a system pursued for some time even after his restoration to

authority. His profusion exceeded even the rapidity of renovation; and

the husbandman had scarcely broken up his long-waste fields, when a call

was made by the harpies of the State for an advance on their produce,

while he himself had been compelled to borrow at a like ruinous rate for

seed and the means of support, to be paid by expectations. To have hoped

for the revival of prosperity amidst such destitution, moral and

pecuniary, would have been visionary. It was as necessary to improve the

one as to find the other; for poverty and virtue do not long associate,

and certainly not in Mewar. Proclamations were therefore prepared by the

Rana, inviting foreign merchants and bankers to establish connexions in

the chief towns throughout the country; but as in the days of

demoralization little faith was placed in the words of princes, similar

ones were prepared by the Agent, guaranteeing the stipulations, and both

were distributed to every commercial city in India. The result was as

had been foreseen: branch banks were everywhere formed, and mercantile

agents fixed in every town in the country, whose operations were only

limited by the slow growth of moral improvement. The shackles which

bound external commerce were at once removed, and the multifarious posts

for the collections of transit duties abolished; in lieu of which chain

of stations, all levies on goods in transit were confined to the

frontiers. The scale of duties [484] was revised; and by the abolition

of intermediate posts, they underwent a reduction of from thirty to

fifty per cent. By this system, which could not for some time be

comprehended, the transit and custom duties of Mewar made the most

certain part of the revenue, and in a few years exceeded in amount what

had ever been known.

=Trade at Bhīlwāra.=—The chief commercial mart, Bhilwara, which showed

not a vestige of humanity, rapidly rose from ruin, and in a few months

contained twelve hundred houses, half of which were occupied by foreign

merchants. Bales of goods, the produce of the most distant lands, were

piled up in the streets lately overgrown with grass, and a weekly fair

was established for the home manufactures. A charter of privileges and

immunities was issued, exempting them from all taxation for the first

year, and graduating the scale for the future; calculated with the same

regard to improvement, by giving the mind the full range of enjoying the

reward of its exertions. The right of electing their own chief

magistrates and the assessors of justice, was above all things

indispensable, so as to render them as independent as possible of the

needy servants of the court. A guard was provided by the government for

their protection, and a competent authority nominated to see that the

full extent of their privileges, and the utmost freedom of action, were

religiously maintained. The entire success of this plan may at once be

recorded to prevent repetition. In 1822, Bhilwara contained nearly three

thousand dwellings, which were chiefly inhabited by merchants, bankers,

or artisans. An entire new street had been constructed in the centre of

the town, from the duties levied, and the shops and houses were rented

at a moderate rate; while many were given up to the proprietors of their

sites, returning from exile, on their paying the price of construction.

But as there is no happiness without alloy, so even this pleasing

picture had its dark shades to chasten the too sanguine expectation of

imparting happiness to all. Instead of a generous emulation, a jealous

competition checked the prosperity of Bhilwara: the base spirit of

exclusive monopoly desired a distinction between the native and the

stranger-merchant, for which they had a precedent in the latter paying

an addition to the town-duty of metage (_mapa_). The unreasonableness of

this was discussed, and it was shown to be more consonant to justice

that he who came from Jaisalmer, Surat, Benares, or Delhi, should pay

less than the merchant whose domicile was on the spot. When at length

the parties acquiesced in this opinion, and were intreated and promised

to know [485] none other distinction than that of ‘inhabitant of

Bhilwara,’ sectarian differences, which there was less hope of

reconciling, became the cause of disunion. All the Hindu merchants

belong either to the Vaishnava or Jain sects; consequently each had a

representative head, and ‘the Five’ for the adjudication of their

internal arrangements; and these, the wise men of both parties, formed

the general council for the affairs of Bhilwara. But they carried their

religious differences to the judgement-seat, where each desired

pre-eminence. Whether the point in dispute hinged on the interpretation

of law, which with all these sects is of divine origin, or whether the

mammon of unrighteousness was the lurking cause of their bickerings,

they assuredly did much harm, for their appeals brought into play what

of all things was least desired, the intrigues of the profligate

dependents of the court. It will be seen hereafter,[4.18.18] in visits

to Bhilwara, how these disputes were in some degree calmed. The leaders

on both sides were distinctly given to understand they would be made to

leave the place. Self-interest prevented this extremity; but from the

withdrawing of that active interference (which the state of the alliance

did not indeed warrant, but which humanity interposed for their benefit)

together with the effect of appeals to the court, it is to be

apprehended that Bhilwara may fail to become what it was intended to be,

the chief commercial mart of Central India.[4.18.19]

=Reform of the Nobility.=—Of the three measures simultaneously projected

and pursued for the restoration of prosperity, the industrious portion

has been described. The feudal interest remains, which was found the

most difficult to arrange. The agricultural and commercial classes

required only protection and stimulus, and we could repay the benefits

their industry conferred by the lowest scale of taxation, which, though

in fact equally beneficial to the government, was constructed as a boon.

But with the feudal lords there was no such equivalent to offer in

return for the sacrifices many had to make for the re-establishment of

society. Those who were well inclined, like Kotharia, had everything to

gain, and nothing left to surrender; while those who, like Deogarh,

Salumbar, or Badnor, had preserved their power by foreign aid, intrigue,

or prowess, dreaded the high price they might be called upon to pay

[486] for the benefit of security which the new alliance conferred. All

dreaded the word ‘restitution,’ and the audit of half a century’s

political accounts; yet the adjustment of these was the corner-stone of

the edifice, which anarchy and oppression had dismantled. Feuds were to

be appeased, a difficult and hazardous task; and usurpations, both on

the crown and each other, to be redeemed. ‘To bring the wolf and the

goat to drink from the same vessel,’ was a task of less difficulty than

to make the Chondawat and Saktawat labour in concert for the welfare of

the prince and the country. In fine, a better idea cannot be afforded of

what was deemed the hopelessness of success than the opinion of Zorawar

Singh, the chief of the latter clan, who had much to relinquish: “Were

Parameswara (the Almighty) to descend, he could not reform Mewar.” We

judged better of them than they did of each other.

=Negotiations with the Chiefs.=—It were superfluous to detail all the

preparatory measures for the accomplishment of this grand object; the

meetings and adjournments, which only served to keep alive discontent.

On the 27th of April, the treaty with the British Government was read,

and the consequent change in their relations explained. Meanwhile, a

charter, defining the respective rights of the crown and of the chiefs,

with their duties to the community, was prepared, and a day named for a

general assembly of the chieftains to sanction and ratify this

engagement. The 1st of May was fixed: the chiefs assembled; the

articles, ten in number, were read and warmly discussed; when with

unmeaning expressions of duty, and objections to the least prominent,

they obtained through their speaker, Gokuldas of Deogarh, permission to

reassemble at his house to consider them, and broke up with the promise

to attend next day. The delay, as apprehended, only generated

opposition, and the 2nd and 3rd passed in inter-communications of

individual hope and fear. It was important to put an end to speculation.

At noon, on the 4th of May, the grand hall was again filled, when the

Rana, with his sons and ministers, took their seats. Once more the

articles were read, objections raised and combated, and midnight had

arrived without the object of the meeting being advanced, when an

adjournment, proposed by Gokuldas, till the arrival of the Rana’s

plenipotentiary from Delhi, met with a firm denial; and the Rana gave

him liberty to retire, if he refused his testimony of loyalty. The Begun

chief, who had much to gain, at length set the example, followed by the

chiefs of Amet and Deogarh, and in succession by all the sixteen nobles,

who also signed as the proxies of their [487] relatives, unable from

sickness to attend. The most powerful of the second grade also signed

for themselves and the absent of their clans, each, as he gave in his

adhesion, retiring; and it was three in the morning of the 5th of May

ere the ceremony was over. The chief of the Saktawats, determined to be

conspicuous, was the last of his own class to sign. During this

lengthened and painful discussion of fifteen hours’ continuance, the

Rana conducted himself with such judgment and firmness, as to give

sanguine hopes of his taking the lead in the settlement of his affairs.

=Enforcement of the Treaty.=—This preliminary adjusted, it was important

that the stipulations of the treaty[4.18.20] should be rigidly if not

rapidly effected. It will not be a matter of surprise, that some months

passed away before the complicated arrangements arising out of this

settlement were completed; but it may afford just grounds for

gratulation, that they were finally accomplished without a shot being

fired, or the exhibition of a single British soldier in the country,

nor, indeed, within one hundred miles of Udaipur. ‘Opinion’ was the sole

and all-sufficient ally effecting this political reform. The Rajputs, in

fact, did not require the demonstration of our physical strength; its

influence had reached far beyond Mewar. When the few firelocks defeated

hundreds of the foes of public tranquillity, they attributed it to ‘the

strength of the Company’s salt,’[4.18.21] the moral agency of which was

proclaimed the true basis of our power. ‘Sachha Raj’ was the proud

epithet applied by our new allies to the British Government in the East;

a title which distinguished the immortal Alfred, ‘the upright.’

It will readily be imagined that a reform, which went to touch the

entire feudal association, could not be accomplished without harassing

and painful discussions [488], when the object was the renunciation of

lands, to which in some cases the right of inheritance could be pleaded,

in others, the cognisance of successful revenge, while to many

prescriptive possession could be asserted. It was the more painful,

because although the shades which marked the acquisition of such lands

were varied, no distinction could be made in the mode of settlement,

namely, unconditional surrender. In some cases, the Rana had to revoke

his own grants, wrung either from his necessities or his weakness; but

in neither predicament could arguments be adduced to soften

renunciation, or to meet the powerful and pathetic and often angry

appeals to justice or to prejudice. Counter-appeals to their loyalty,

and the necessity for the re-establishment of their sovereign’s just

weight and influence in the social body, without which their own welfare

could not be secured, were adduced; but individual views and passions

were too absorbing to bend to the general interest. Weeks thus passed in

interchange of visits, in soothing pride, and in flattering vanity by

the revival of past recollections, which gradually familiarized the

subject to the mind of the chiefs, and brought them to compliance. Time,

conciliation, and impartial justice, confirmed the victory thus

obtained; and when they were made to see that no interest was

overlooked, that party views were unknown, and that the system included

every class of society in its beneficial operation, cordiality followed

concession. Some of these cessions were alienations from the crown of

half a century’s duration. Individual cases of hardship were unavoidable

without incurring the imputation of favouritism, and the dreaded revival

of ancient feuds, to abolish which was indispensable, but required much

circumspection. Castles and lands in this predicament could therefore

neither be retained by the possessor nor returned to the ancient

proprietor without rekindling the torch of civil war. The sole

alternative was for the crown to take the object of contention, and make

compensation from its own domain. It would be alike tedious and

uninteresting to enter into the details of these arrangements, where one

chief had to relinquish the levy of transit duties in the most important

outlet of the country, asserted to have been held during seven

generations, as in the case of the chief of Deogarh. Of another (the

Bhindar chief) who held forty-three towns and villages, in addition to

his grant; of Amet, of Badesar, of Dabla, of Lawa, and many others who

held important fortresses of the crown independent of its will; and

other claims, embracing every right [489] and privilege appertaining to

feudal society; suffice it, that in six months the whole arrangements

were effected.

=The Case of Arja.=—In the painful and protracted discussions attendant

on these arrangements, powerful traits of national character were

developed. The castle and domain of Arja half a century ago belonged to

the crown, but had been usurped by the Purawats, from whom it was

wrested by storm about fifteen years back by the Saktawats, and a patent

sanctioning possession was obtained, on the payment of a fine of £1000

to the Rana. Its surrender was now required from Fateh Singh, the second

brother of Bhindar, the head of this clan; but being regarded as the

victorious completion of a feud, it was not easy to silence their

prejudices and objections. The renunciation of the forty-three towns and

villages by the chief of the clan caused not half the excitation, and

every Saktawat seemed to forgo his individual losses in the common

sentiment expressed by their head: “Arja is the price of blood, and with

its cession our honour is surrendered.” To preserve the point of honour,

it was stipulated that it should not revert to the Purawats, but be

incorporated with the fisc, which granted an equivalent; when letters of

surrender were signed by both brothers, whose conduct throughout was

manly and confiding.

=Badnor and Amet.=—The Badnor and Amet chiefs, both of the superior

grade of nobles, were the most formidable obstacles to the operation of

the treaty of the 4th of May. The first of these, by name Jeth Singh

(_the victorious_ [_chief_] _lion_), was of the Mertia clan, the bravest

of the brave race of Rathor, whose ancestors had left their native

abodes on the plains of Marwar, and accompanied the celebrated Mira Bai

on her marriage with Rana Kumbha. His descendants, amongst whom was

Jaimall, of immortal memory, enjoyed honour in Mewar equal to their

birth and high deserts. It was the more difficult to treat with men like

these, whose conduct had been a contrast to the general license of the

times, and who had reason to feel offended, when no distinction was

observed between them and those who had disgraced the name of Rajput.

Instead of the submission expected from the Rathor, so overwhelmed was

he from the magnitude of the claims, which amounted to a virtual

extinction of his power, that he begged leave to resign his estates and

quit the country. In prosecution of this design, he took post in the

chief hall of the palace, from which no entreaties could make him

move;[4.18.22] until the Rana, to [490] escape his importunities, and

even restraint, obtained his promise to abide by the decision of the

Agent. The forms of the Rana’s court, from time immemorial, prohibit all

personal communication between the sovereign and his chiefs in matters

of individual interest, by which indecorous altercation is avoided. But

the ministers, whose office it was to obtain every information, did not

make a rigid scrutiny into the title-deeds of the various estates

previous to advancing the claims of the crown. This brave man had

enemies, and he was too proud to have recourse to the common arts either

of adulation or bribery to aid his cause. It was a satisfaction to find

that the two principal towns demanded of him were embodied in a grant of

Sangram Singh’s reign; and the absolute rights of the fisc, of which he

had become possessed, were cut down to about fifteen thousand rupees of

annual revenue. But there were other points on which he was even more

tenacious than the surrender of these. Being the chief noble of the fine

district of Badnor, which consisted of three hundred and sixty towns and

villages, chiefly of feudal allotments (many of them of his own clan),

he had taken advantage of the times to establish his influence over

them, to assume the right of wardship of minors, and secure those

services which were due to the prince, but which he wanted the power to

enforce. The holders of these estates were of the third class of vassals

or _gol_ (the mass), whose services it was important to reclaim, and who

constituted in past times the most efficient force of the Ranas, and

were the preponderating balance of their authority when mercenaries were

unknown in these patriarchal states. Abundant means towards a just

investigation had been previously procured; and after some discussion,

in which all admissible claims were recognized, and argument was

silenced by incontrovertible facts, this chieftain relinquished all that

was demanded, and sent in, as from himself, his written renunciation to

his sovereign. However convincing the data by which his proper rights

and those of his prince were defined, it was to feeling and prejudice

that we were mainly indebted for so satisfactory an adjustment. An

appeal to the name of Jaimall, who fell defending Chitor against

Akbar,[4.18.23] and the contrast of his ancestor’s loyalty and devotion

with his own contumacy, acted as a talisman, and wrung tears from his

eyes and the deed from his hand. It will afford some idea of the

difficulties encountered, as well as the invidiousness of the task of

arbitrating such matters, to give his own comment verbatim: "I remained

faithful when his own kin deserted him, and was [491] one of four chiefs

who alone of all Mewar fought for him in the rebellion; but the son of

Jaimall is forgotten, while the ‘plunderer’ is his boon companion, and

though of inferior rank, receives an estate which elevates him above

me"; alluding to the chief of Badesar, who plundered the queen’s dower.

But while the brave descendant of Jaimall returned to Badnor with the

marks of his sovereign’s favour, and the applause of those he esteemed,

the ‘runner’ went back to Badesar in disgrace, to which his prince’s

injudicious favour further contributed.

=Hamīra of Badesar.=—Hamira of Badesar was of the second class of

nobles, a Chondawat by birth. He succeeded to his father Sardar Singh,

the assassin of the prime minister even in the palace of his

sovereign;[4.18.24] into whose presence he had the audacity to pursue

the surviving brother, destined to avenge him.[4.18.25] Hamira inherited

all the turbulence and disaffection, with the estates, of his father;

and this most conspicuous of the many lawless chieftains of the times

was known throughout Rajasthan as Hamira ‘the runner’ (_daurayat_).

Though not entitled to hold lands beyond thirty thousand annually, he

had become possessed to the amount of eighty thousand, chiefly of the

fisc or _khalisa_, and nearly all obtained by violence, though since

confirmed by the prince’s patent. With the chieftain of Lawa (precisely

in the same predicament), who held the fortress of Kheroda and other

valuable lands, Hamira resided entirely at the palace, and obtaining the

Rana’s ear by professions of obedience, kept possession, while chiefs in

every respect his superiors had been compelled to surrender; and when at

length the Saktawat of Lawa was forbid the court until Kheroda and all

his usurpations were yielded up, the son of Sardar displayed his usual

turbulence, ‘curled his moustache’ at the minister, and hinted at the

fate of his predecessor. Although none dared to imitate him, his

stubbornness was not without admirers, especially among his own clan;

and as it was too evident that fear or favour swayed the Rana, it was a

case for the Agent’s interference, the opportunity for which was soon

afforded. When [492] forced to give letters of surrender, the Rana’s

functionaries, who went to take possession, were insulted, refused

admittance, and compelled to return. Not a moment could be lost in

punishing this contempt of authority; and as the Rana was holding a

court when the report arrived, the Agent requested an audience. He found

the Rana and his chiefs assembled in ‘the balcony of the sun,’ and

amongst them the notorious Hamira. After the usual compliments, the

Agent asked the minister if his master had been put in possession of

Syana. It was evident from the general constraint, that all were

acquainted with the result of the deputation; but to remove

responsibility from the minister, the Agent, addressing the Rana as if

he were in ignorance of the insult, related the transaction, and

observed that his government would hold him culpable if he remained at

Udaipur while his highness’s commands were disregarded. Thus supported,

the Rana resumed his dignity, and in forcible language signified to all

present his anxious desire to do nothing which was harsh or ungracious;

but that, thus compelled, he would not recede from what became him as

their sovereign. Calling for a _bira_, he looked sternly at Hamira, and

commanded him to quit his presence instantly, and the capital in an

hour; and, but for the Agent’s interposition, he would have been

banished the country. Confiscation of his whole estate was commanded,

until renunciation was completed. He departed that night; and, contrary

to expectation, not only were all the usurpations surrendered, but, what

was scarcely contemplated by the Agent, the Rana’s flag of sequestration

was quietly admitted into the fortress of Badesar.[4.18.26]

=The Case of Āmli.=—One more anecdote may suffice. The lands and

fortress of Amli had been in the family of Amet since the year 27, only

five years posterior to the date to which these arrangements extended;

their possession verged on half a century. The lords of Amet were of the

Sixteen, and were chiefs of the clan Jagawat. The present representative

enjoyed a fair character: he could, with the chief of Badnor, claim the

succession of the loyal; for Partap and Jaimall, their respective

ancestors, were rivals and martyrs on that memorable day when the genius

of Chitor abandoned the Sesodias. But the heir of Amet had not this

alone [493] to support his claims; for his predecessor Partap had lost

his life in defending his country against the Mahrattas, and Amli had

been his acquisition. Fateh Singh (such was his name) was put forward by

the more artful of his immediate kin, the Chondawat interest; but his

disposition, blunt and impetuous, was little calculated to promote their

views: he was an honest Rajput, who neither could nor cared to conceal

his anger, and at a ceremonious visit paid him by the Agent, he had

hardly sufficient control over himself to be courteous, and though he

said nothing, his eyes, inflamed with opium and disdain, spoke his

feelings. He maintained a dogged indifference, and was inaccessible to

argument, till at length, following the example of Badnor, he was

induced to abide by the Agent’s mediation. He came attended by his

vassals, who anxiously awaited the result, which an unpremeditated

incident facilitated. After a long and fruitless expostulation, he had

taken refuge in an obstinate silence; and seated in a chair opposite to

the envoy, with his shield in front, placed perpendicularly on his

knees, and his arms and head reclined thereon, he continued vacantly

looking on the ground. To interrupt this uncourteous silence in his own

house, the envoy took a picture, which with several others was at hand,

and placing it before him, remarked, "That chief did not gain his

reputation for _swamidharma_[4.18.27] (loyalty) by conduct such as

yours." His eyes suddenly recovered their animation and his countenance

was lighted with a smile, as he rapidly uttered, “How did you come by

this—why does this interest you?” A tear started in his eye as he added,

"This is my father!"—“Yes,” said the Agent, "it is the loyal Partap on

the day he went forth to meet his death; but his name yet lives, and a

stranger does homage to his fame."—“Take Amli, take Amli,” he hurriedly

repeated, with a suppressed tone of exultation and sorrow, “but forget

not the extent of the sacrifice.” To prolong the visit would have been

painful to both, but as it might have been trusting too much to humanity

to delay the resumption, the Agent availed himself of the moment to

indite the _chhorchitthi_[4.18.28] of surrender for the lands.

With these instances, characteristic of individuals and the times, this

sketch of the introductory measures for improving the condition of Mewar

may be closed. To enter more largely in detail is foreign to the purpose

of the work; nor is it requisite for the comprehension of the unity of

the object, that a more minute dissection of the parts should be

afforded. Before, however, we exhibit the [494] general results of these

arrangements, we shall revert to the condition of the more humble, but a

most important part of the community, the peasantry of Mewar; and

embody, in a few remarks, the fruits of observation or inquiry, as to

their past and present state, their rights, the establishment of them,

their infringement, and restitution. On this subject much has been

necessarily introduced in the sketch of the feudal system, where landed

tenures were discussed; but it is one on which such a contrariety of

opinion exists, that it may be desirable to show the exact state of

landed tenures in a country, where Hindu manners should exist in greater

purity than in any other part of the vast continent of India.

[Illustration:

FACSIMILE OF NATIVE DRAWING OF PARTĀB SINGH AND RĀĒMALL.

_To face page 572._

]

=The Landed System.=—The ryot (cultivator) is the proprietor of the soil

in Mewar. He compares his right therein to the _akshay duba_,[4.18.29]

which no vicissitudes can destroy. He calls the land his _bapota_, the

most emphatic, the most ancient, the most cherished, and the most

significant phrase his language commands for patrimonial[4.18.30]

inheritance. He has nature and Manu in support of his claim, and can

quote the text, alike compulsory on prince and peasant, “cultivated land

is the property of him who cut away the wood, or who cleared and tilled

it,”[4.18.31] an ordinance binding on the whole Hindu race, and which no

international wars, or conquest, could overturn. In accordance with this

principle is the ancient adage, not of Mewar only but all Rajputana,

_Bhog ra dhanni Raj ho: bhum ra dhanni ma cho_: ‘the government is owner

of the rent, but I am the master of the land.’ With the toleration and

benevolence of the race the conqueror is commanded “to respect the

deities adored by the conquered, also their virtuous priests, and to

establish the laws of the conquered nation as declared in their

books.”[4.18.32] If it were deemed desirable to recede to the system of

pure Hindu agrarian law, there is no deficiency of materials. The

customary laws contained in the various reports of able men, superadded

to the general ordinances of Manu, would form a code at once simple and

efficient: for though innovation from foreign conquest has placed many

principles in abeyance, and modified others, yet he has observed to

little purpose [495] who does not trace a uniformity of design, which at

one time had ramified wherever the name of Hindu prevailed: language has

been modified, and terms have been corrupted or changed, but the primary

pervading principle is yet perceptible; and whether we examine the

systems of Khandesh, the Carnatic, or Rajasthan, we shall discover the

elements to be the same.

If we consider the system from the period described by Arrian, Curtius,

and Diodorus, we shall see in the government of townships each commune

an ‘_imperium in imperio_’; a little republic, maintaining its municipal

legislation independent of the monarchy, on which it relies for general

support, and to which it pays the _bhog_, or tax in kind, as the price

of this protection; for though the prescribed duties of kings are as

well defined by Manu[4.18.33] as by any jurisconsult in Europe, nothing

can be more lax than the mutual relations of the governed and governing

in Hindu monarchies, which are resolved into unbounded liberty of

action. To the artificial regulation of society, which leaves all who

depend on manual exertion to an immutable degradation, must be ascribed

these multitudinous governments, unknown to the rest of mankind, which,

in spite of such dislocation, maintain the bonds of mutual sympathies.

Strictly speaking, every State presents the picture of so many hundred

or thousand minute republics, without any connexion with each other,

giving allegiance (_an_) and rent (_bhog_) to a prince, who neither

legislates for them, nor even forms a police for their internal

protection. It is consequent on this want of paramount interference

that, in matters of police, of justice, and of law, the communes act for

themselves; and from this want of paternal interference only have arisen

those courts of equity, or arbitration, the _panchayats_.

But to return to the freehold ryot of Mewar, whose _bapota_ is the

_watan_ and the _miras_ of the peninsula—words of foreign growth,

introduced by the Muhammadan conquerors; the first (Persian) is of more

general use in Khandesh; the other (Arabic) in the Carnatic. Thus the

great Persian moralist Saadi exemplifies its application: "If you desire

to succeed to your father’s inheritance (_miras_), first obtain his

wisdom" [496].

While the term _bapota_ thus implies the inheritance or patrimony, its

holder, if a military vassal, is called Bhumia, a term equally powerful,

meaning one actually identified with the soil (_bhum_), and for which

the Muhammadan has no equivalent but in the possessive compound

_watandar_, or _mirasdar_. The Caniatchi[4.18.34] of Malabar is the

Bhumia of Rajasthan.

The emperors of Delhi, in the zenith of their power, bestowed the

epithet zamindar upon the Hindu tributary sovereigns: not out of

disrespect, but in the true application of their own term Bhumia Raj,

expressive of their tenacity to the soil; and this fact affords

additional evidence of the proprietary right being in the cultivator

(_ryot_), namely, that he alone can confer the freehold land, which

gives the title of Bhumia, and of which both past history and present

usage will furnish us with examples. When the tenure of land obtained

from the cultivator is held more valid than the grant of the sovereign,

it will be deemed a conclusive argument of the proprietary right being

vested in the ryot. What should induce a chieftain, when inducted into a

perpetual fief, to establish through the ryot a right to a few acres in

bhum, but the knowledge that although the vicissitudes of fortune or of

favour may deprive him of his aggregate signiorial rights, his claims,

derived from the spontaneous favour of the commune, can never be set

aside; and when he ceases to be the lord, he becomes a member of the

commonwealth, merging his title of Thakur, or Signior, into the more

humble one of Bhumia, the allodial tenant of the Rajput feudal system,

elsewhere discussed.[4.18.35] Thus we have touched on the method by

which he acquires this distinction, for protecting the community from

violence; and if left destitute by the negligence or inability of the

government, he is vested with the rights of the crown, in its share of

the _bhog_ or rent. But when their own land is in the predicament called

_galita_, or reversions from lapses to the commune, he is ‘seised’ in

all the rights of the former proprietor; or, by internal arrangements,

they can convey such right by cession of the commune.

=The Bhūmia.=—The privilege attached to the _bhum_,[4.18.36] and

acquired from the community by the protection afforded to it, is the

most powerful argument for the recognition of its original rights. The

Bhumia, thus vested, may at pleasure drive his own plough [497], the

right to the soil. His _bhum_ is exempt from the _jarib_ (measuring

rod); it is never assessed, and his only sign of allegiance is a

quit-rent, in most cases triennial, and the tax of _kharlakar_,[4.18.37]

a war imposition, now commuted for money. The State, however, indirectly

receives the services of these allodial tenants, the yeomen of

Rajasthan, who constitute, as in the districts of Kumbhalmer and

Mandalgarh, the landwehr, or local militia. In fact, since the days of

universal repose set in, and the townships required no protection, an

arrangement was made with the Bhumias of Mewar, in which the crown,

foregoing its claim of quit-rent, has obtained their services in the

garrisons and frontier stations of police at a very slight pecuniary

sacrifice.

Such are the rights and privileges derived from the ryot cultivator

alone. The Rana may dispossess the chiefs of Badnor, or Salumbar, of

their estates, the grant of the crown—he could not touch the rights

emanating from the community; and thus the descendants of a chieftain,

who a few years before might have followed his sovereign at the head of

one hundred cavaliers, would descend into the humble foot militia of a

district. Thousands are in this predicament: the Kanawats, Lunawats,

Kumbhawats, and other clans, who, like the Celt, forget not their claims

of birth in the distinctions of fortune, but assert their propinquity as

“brothers in the nineteenth or thirtieth degree to the prince” on the

throne. So sacred was the tenure derived from the ryot, that even

monarchs held lands in _bhum_ from their subjects, for an instance of

which we are indebted to the great poetic historian of the last Hindu

king. Chand relates, that when his sovereign, the Chauhan, had

subjugated the kingdom of Anhilwara[4.18.38] from the Solanki, he

returned to the nephew of the conquered prince several districts and

seaports, and all the bhum held by the family. In short, the Rajput

vaunts his aristocratic distinction derived from the land; and opposes

the title of ‘Bhumia Raj,’ or government of the soil, to the ‘Bania

Raj,’ or commercial government, which he affixes as an epithet of

contempt to Jaipur: where “wealth accumulates and men decay.”

In the great ‘register of patents’ (_patta bahi_) of Mewar we find a

species of [498] _bhum_ held by the greater vassals on particular crown

lands; whether this originated from inability of ceding entire townships

to complete the estate to the rank of the incumbent, or whether it was

merely in confirmation of the grant of the commune, could not be

ascertained. The benefit from this _bhum_ is only pecuniary, and the

title is ‘_bhum rakhwali_’[4.18.39] or land [in return for]

‘preservation.’ Strange to say, the crown itself holds ‘_bhum rakhwali_’

on its own fiscal demesnes consisting of small portions in each village,

to the amount of ten thousand rupees in a district of thirty or forty

townships. This species, however, is so incongruous that we can only

state it does exist: we should vainly seek the cause for such apparent

absurdity, for since society has been unhinged, the oracles are mute to

much of antiquated custom.

=Occupiers’ Rights in the Land.=—We shall close these remarks with some

illustrative traditions and yet existing customs, to substantiate the

ryot’s right in the soil of Mewar. After one of those convulsions

described in the annals, the prince had gone to espouse the daughter of

the Raja of Mandor, the (then) capital of Marwar. It is customary at the

moment of _hathleva_, or the junction of hands, that any request

preferred by the bridegroom to the father of the bride should meet

compliance, a usage which has yielded many fatal results; and the Rana

had been prompted on this occasion to demand a body of ten thousand Jat

cultivators to repeople the deserted fisc of Mewar. An assent was given

to the unprecedented demand, but when the inhabitants were thus

despotically called on to migrate, they denied the power and refused.

“Shall we,” said they, "abandon the lands of our inheritance (_bapota_),

the property of our children, to accompany a stranger into a foreign

land, there to labour for him? Kill us you may, but never shall we

relinquish our inalienable rights." The Mandor prince, who had trusted

to this reply, deemed himself exonerated from his promise, and secured

from the loss of so many subjects: but he was deceived. The Rana held

out to them the enjoyment of the proprietary rights escheated to the

crown in his country, with the lands left without occupants by the

sword, and to all, increase of property. When equal and absolute power

was thus conferred, they no longer hesitated to exchange the arid soil

of Marwar for the garden of Rajwara; and the descendants of these Jats

still occupy the flats watered by the Berach and Banas [499].

In those districts which afforded protection from innovation, the

proprietary right of the ryot will be found in full force; of this the

populous and extensive district of Jahazpur, consisting of one hundred

and six townships, affords a good specimen. There are but two pieces of

land throughout the whole of this tract the property of the crown, and

these were obtained by force during the occupancy of Zalim Singh of

Kotah. The right thus unjustly acquired was, from the conscientiousness

of the Rana’s civil governor, on the point of being annulled by sale and

reversion, when the court interfered to maintain its proprietary right

to the tanks of Loharia and Itaunda, and the lands which they irrigate,

now the _bhum_ of the Rana.[4.18.40] This will serve as an illustration

how _bhum_ may be acquired, and the annals of Kotah will exhibit,

unhappily for the ryots of that country, the almost total annihilation

of their rights, by the same summary process which originally attached

Loharia to the fisc.

The power of alienation being thus proved, it would be superfluous to

insist further on the proprietary right of the cultivator of the soil.

=Proprietary Rights in Land.=—Besides the ability to alienate as

demonstrated, all the overt symbols which mark the proprietary right in

other countries are to be found in Mewar; that of entire conveyance by

sale, or temporary by mortgage; and numerous instances could be adduced,

especially of the latter. The fertile lands of Horla, along the banks of

the Khari, are almost all mortgaged, and the registers of these

transactions form two considerable volumes, in which great variety of

deeds may be discovered: one extended for one hundred and one

years;[4.18.41] when redemption was to follow, without regard to

interest on the one hand; or the benefits from the land on the other,

but merely by repayment of the sum borrowed. To maintain the interest

during abeyance, it is generally stipulated that a certain portion of

the harvest shall be reserved for the mortgagee—a fourth, a fifth, or

_gugri_—a share so small as to be valued only as a mark of proprietary

recognition.[4.18.42] The mortgagees were chiefly of the commercial

classes of the large frontier towns; in [500] many cases the proprietor

continues to cultivate for another the lands his ancestor mortgaged four

or five generations ago, nor does he deem his right at all impaired. A

plan had been sketched to raise money to redeem these mortgages, from

whose complex operation the revenue was sure to suffer. No length of

time or absence can affect the claim to the _bapota_, and so sacred is

the right of absentees, that land will lay sterile and unproductive from

the penalty which Manu denounces on all who interfere with their

neighbour’s rights: “for unless there be an especial agreement between

the owner of the land and the seed, the fruits belong clearly to the

land-owner”; even “if seed conveyed by water or by wind should

germinate, the plant belongs to the land-owner, the mere sower takes not

the fruit.”[4.18.43] Even crime and the extreme sentence of the law will

not alter succession to property, either to the military or cultivating

vassal; and the old Kentish adage, probably introduced by the Jats from

Scandinavia, who under Hengist established that kingdom of the

heptarchy, namely:

The father to the bough,

And the son to the plough

is practically understood by the Jats and Bhumias[4.18.44] of Mewar,

whose treason is not deemed hereditary, nor a chain of noble acts

destroyed because a false link was thrown out. We speak of the military

vassals—the cultivator cannot aspire to so dignified a crime as treason.

=Village Officials: the Patel.=—The officers of the townships are the

same as have been so often described, and are already too familiar to

those interested in the subject to require illustration. From the Patel,

the Cromwell of each township, to the village gossip, the ascetic

Sannyasi, each deems his office, and the land he holds in virtue thereof

in perpetuity, free of rent to the State, except a small triennial

quit-rent,[4.18.45] and the liability, like every other branch of the

State, to two war taxes.[4.18.46]

Opinions are various as to the origin and attributes of the Patel, the

most important personage in village sway, whose office is by many deemed

foreign to the pure Hindu system, and to which language even his title

is deemed alien. But there is no doubt that both office and title are of

ancient growth, and even etymological rule proves the Patel to be head

(_pati_) of the community.[4.18.47] The office of Patel [501] of Mewar

was originally elective: he was ‘_primus inter pares_,’ the constituted

attorney or representative of the commune, and as the medium between the

cultivator and the government, enjoyed benefits from both. Besides his

_bapota_, and the _serano_, or one-fortieth of all produce from the

ryot, he had a remission of a third or fourth of the rent from such

extra lands as he might cultivate in addition to his patrimony. Such was

the Patel, the link connecting the peasant with the government, ere

predatory war subverted all order: but as rapine increased, so did his

authority. He became the plenipotentiary of the community, the security

for the contribution imposed, and often the hostage for its payment,

remaining in the camp of the predatory hordes till they were paid off.

He gladly undertook the liquidation of such contributions as these

perpetual invaders imposed. To indemnify himself, a schedule was formed

of the share of each ryot, and mortgage of land, and sequestration of

personal effects followed till his avarice was satisfied. Who dared

complain against a Patel, the intimate of Pathan and Mahratta

commanders, his adopted patrons? He thus became the master of his

fellow-citizens; and, as power corrupts all men, their tyrant instead of

their mediator. It was a system necessarily involving its own decay; for

a while glutted with plenty, but failing with the supply, and ending in

desolation, exile, and death. Nothing was left to prey on but the

despoiled carcase; yet when peace returned, and in its train the exile

ryot to reclaim the _bapota_, the vampire Patel was resuscitated, and

evinced the same ardour for supremacy, and the same cupidity which had

so materially aided to convert the fertile Mewar to a desert. The Patel

accordingly proved one of the chief obstacles to returning prosperity;

and the attempt to reduce this corrupted middle-man to his original

station in society was both difficult and hazardous, from the support

they met in the corrupt officers at court, and other influences ‘behind

the curtain.’ A system of renting the crown lands deemed the most

expedient to advance prosperity, it was incumbent to find a remedy for

this evil. The mere name of some of these petty tyrants inspired such

terror as to check all desire of return to the country; but the origin

of the institution of the office and its abuses being ascertained, it

was imperative, though difficult, to restore the one and banish the

other. The original elective right in many townships was therefore

returned to the ryot, who nominated new Patels [502], his choice being

confirmed by the Rana, in whose presence investiture was performed by

binding a turban on the elected, for which he presented his _nazar_.

Traces of the sale of these offices in past times were observable; and

it was deemed of primary importance to avoid all such channels for

corruption, in order that the ryot’s election should meet with no

obstacle. That the plan was beneficial there could be no doubt; that the

benefit would be permanent, depended, unfortunately, on circumstances

which those most anxious had not the means to control: for it must be

recollected, that although “personal aid and advice might be given when

asked,” all internal interference was by treaty strictly, and most

justly, prohibited.

After a few remarks on the mode of levying the crown-rents, we shall

conclude the subject of village economy in Mewar, and proceed to close

this too extended chapter with the results of four years of peace and

the consequent improved prosperity.

=Modes of Collecting Rents.=—There are two methods of levying the

revenues of the crown on every description of corn—_kankut_ and _batai_,

for on sugar-cane, poppy, oil, hemp, tobacco, cotton, indigo, and garden

stuffs, a money payment is fixed, varying from two to six rupees per

bigha. The _kankut_[4.18.48] is a conjectural assessment of the standing

crop, by the united judgement of the officers of government, the Patel,

the Patwari, or registrar, and the owner of the field. The accuracy with

which an accustomed eye will determine the quantity of grain on a given

surface is surprising: but should the owner deem the estimate overrated,

he can insist on _batai_, or division of the corn after it is threshed;

the most ancient and only infallible mode by which the dues either of

the government or the husbandman can be ascertained. In the _batai_

system the share of the government varies from one-third to two-fifths

of the spring harvest, as wheat and barley; and sometimes even half,

which is the invariable proportion of the autumnal crops. In either

case, _kankut_ or _batai_, when the shares are appropriated, those of

the crown may be commuted to a money payment at the average rate of the

market. The _kut_ is the most liable to corruption. The ryot bribes the

collector, who will underrate the crop; and when he betrays his duty,

the _shahnah_, or watchman, is not likely to be honest: and as the

_makai_, or Indian corn, the grand autumnal crop of Mewar, is eaten

green, the crown may be defrauded of half its dues. The system is one of

uncertainty, from which eventually the ryot derives no advantage, though

it [503] fosters the cupidity of patels and collectors; but there was a

_barar_, or tax, introduced to make up for this deficiency, which was in

proportion to the quantity cultivated, and its amount at the mercy of

the officers. Thus the ryot went to work with a mill-stone round his

neck; instead of the exhilarating reflection that every hour’s

additional labour was his own, he saw merely the advantage of these

harpies, and contented himself with raising a scanty subsistence in a

slovenly and indolent manner, by which he forfeited the ancient

reputation of the Jat cultivator of Mewar.

=Improvement in the Condition of the People.=—Notwithstanding these and

various other drawbacks to the prosperity of the country, in an

impoverished court, avaricious and corrupt officers, discontented

Patels, and bad seasons, yet the final report in May 1822 could not but

be gratifying when contrasted with that of February 1818. In order to

ascertain the progressive improvement, a census had been made at the end

of 1821, of the three central fiscal districts[4.18.49] watered by the

Berach and Banas. As a specimen of the whole, we may take the _tappa_ or

subdivision of Sahara. Of its twenty-seven villages, six were inhabited

in 1818, the number of families being three hundred and sixty-nine,

three-fourths of whom belonged to the resumed town of Amli. In 1821 nine

hundred and twenty-six families were reported, and every village of the

twenty-seven was occupied, so that population had almost trebled. The

number of ploughs was more than trebled, and cultivation quadrupled; and

though this, from the causes described, was not above one-third of what

real industry might have effected, the contrast was abundantly cheering.

The same ratio of prosperity applied to the entire crown demesne of

Mewar. By the recovery of Kumbhalmer, Raepur, Rajnagar, and Sadri-Kanera

from the Mahrattas; of Jahazpur from Kotah; of the usurpations of the

nobles; together with the resumption of all the estates of the females

of his family, a task at once difficult and delicate;[4.18.50] and by

the subjugation of the mountain districts of Merwara, a thousand towns

and villages were united to form the fiscal demesne of the Rana,

composing twenty-four districts of various magnitudes, divided, as in

ancient times, and with the primitive [504] appellations, into portions

tantamount to the tithings and hundreds of England, the division from

time immemorial amongst the Hindus.[4.18.51] From these and the

commercial duties[4.18.52] a revenue was derived sufficient for the

comforts, and even the dignities of the prince and his court, and

promising an annual increase in the ratio of good government: but

profusion scattered all that industry and ingenuity could collect; the

artificial wants of the prince perpetuated the real necessities of the

peasant, and this, it is to be feared, will continue till the present

generation shall sleep with their forefathers.

_Abstract of the Fiscal Revenues of Mewar in the years

1818-19-20-21-22._

Spring harvest of 1818 Rs. 40,000

” 1819 451,281

” 1820 659,100

” 1821 1,018,478

┌ The active

superintendence

” 1822 936,640 ┤ of the British Agent

being

└ almost entirely

withdrawn.

_Abstract of Commercial Duties included in the above._

In 1818 _Nominal_

1819 Rs. 96,683

1820 165,108

1821 220,000

┌ Farmed for three years,

│ from 1822, for 750,000 rupees,

1822 217,000 ┤ which was assigned by the

│ Rana for the liquidation of

└ tribute fallen in arrear.

=Mines and Minerals.=—There are sources of wealth in Mewar yet

untouched, and to which her princes owe much of their power. The tin

mines of Jawara and Dariba alone, little more than half a century ago,

yielded above three lakhs annually;[4.18.53] besides rich copper mines

in various parts. From such, beyond a doubt, much of the wealth of Mewar

was extracted, but the miners are now dead, and the mines filled with

water. An attempt was made to work them, but it was so unprofitable that

the design was soon abandoned.

Nothing will better exemplify the progress of prosperity than the

comparative population of some of the chief towns before, and after,

four years of peace:

No. of houses in No. of houses in 1822.

1818.

Udaipur 3,500 10,000

Bhilwara _not 2,700

one_

Pur 200 1,200

Mandal 80 400

Gosunda 60 350 [505]

=The Feudal Lands.=—The feudal lands, which were then double the fiscal,

did not exhibit the like improvement, the merchant and cultivator

residing thereon not having the same certainty of reaping the fruits of

their industry; still great amelioration took place, and few were so

blind as not to see their account in it.[4.18.54] The earnestness with

which many requested the Agent to back their expressed intentions with

his guarantee to their communities of the same measure of justice and

protection as the fiscal tenants enjoyed was proof that they well

understood the benefits of reciprocal confidence; but this could not be

tendered without danger. Before the Agent left the country he greatly

withdrew from active interference, it being his constant, as it was his

last impressive lesson, that they should rely upon themselves if they

desired to retain a shadow of independence. To give an idea of the

improved police, insurance which has been described as amounting to

eight per cent in a space of twenty-five miles became almost nominal, or

one-fourth of a rupee per cent from one frontier to the other. It would,

however, have been quite Utopian to have expected that the lawless

tribes would remain in that stupid subordination which the unexampled

state of society imposed for a time (as described in the opening of

these transactions), when they found that real restraints did not follow

imaginary terrors. Had the wild tribes been under the sole influence of

British power, nothing would have been so simple as effectually, not

only to control, but to conciliate and improve them; for it is a

mortifying truth, that the more remote from civilization, the more

tractable and easy was the object to manage, more especially the

Bhil.[4.18.55] But these children of nature were incorporated in the

demesnes of the feudal chiefs, who when they found our system did not

extend to perpetual control, returned to their old habits of oppression:

this provoked retaliation, which to subdue requires more power than the

Rana yet possesses, and, in the anomalous state of our alliances, will

always be an embarrassing task to whosoever may exercise political

control.

In conclusion, it is to be hoped that the years of oppression that have

swept the land will be held in remembrance by the protecting power, and

that neither petulance nor indolence will lessen the benevolence which

restored life to Mewar, or mar the picture of comparative happiness it

created.

_The Sixteen chief Nobles of Mewar, their Titles, Names, Clans, Tribes,

Estates,

number of Villages in each, and their Value._

────────┬─────────┬───────────┬───────┬──────────┬─────────┬──────────┬────────────────────

│ │ │ │ │ Number │ Value,│

Title. │ Names. │Clan. │Tribe. │Estate. │ of │ A.D.│REMARKS.

│ │ │ │ │Villages.│ 1760.│

────────┼─────────┼───────────┼───────┼──────────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────────────────

Raj │ Chandan │Jhala │Jhala │Sadri │ 127 │ 100,000│┌These estates

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ ││are all diminished

Rao │ Partap │Chauhan │Chauhan│Bedla │ 80 │ 100,000│┤one-half in nominal

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ ││amount; and their

Rao │ Mohkam │Chauhan │Chauhan│Kotharia │ 65 │ 80,000││revenues still

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ │└ more.

Rawat │ Padma │Chondawat │Sesodia│Salumbar │ 85 │ 84,000│Would realize this

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ │if cultivated.

Thakur │ Zorawar │Mertia │Rathor │Ghanerao │ 100 │ 100,000│This chief ceases to

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ │be one of the 16

│ │ │ │ │ │ │since the Rana

│ │ │ │ │ │ │lost the province

│ │ │ │ │ │ │of Godwar.

Rao │Keshodas │—— │Pramar │Bijolia │ 40 │ 45,000│Would realize this

│ │ │ │ │ │ │if cultivated.

Rawat │Gokuldas │Sangawat │Sesodia│Deogarh │ 125 │ 80,000│Would realize more

│ │ │ │ │ │ │if cultivated.

Rawat │ Maha │Meghawat │Sesodia│Begun │ 150 │ 200,000│This includes

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ │usurpations—now

│ │ │ │ │ │ │seized by Sindhia.

│ │ │ │ │ │ │The estate would

│ │ │ │ │ │ │realize 70,000

│ │ │ │ │ │ │if cultivated.

Raj │ Kalyan │Jhala │Jhala │Delwara │ 125 │ 100,000│Would realize

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ │two-thirds

│ │ │ │ │ │ │if cultivated.

Rawat │ Salim │Jagawat │Sesodia│Amet │ 60 │ 60,000│Do., do.

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ │

Raj │Chhattar │Jhala │Jhala │Gogunda │ 50 │ 50,000│Would realize this

│ Sal │ │ │ │ │ │if cultivated.

Rawat │ Fateh │Sarangdevot│Sesodia│Kanor │ 50 │ 95,000│Would realize half

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ │if cultivated.

Maharaja│ Zorawar │Saktawat │Sesodia│Bhindar │ 64 │ 64,000│Would realize this

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ │if cultivated.

Thakur │ Jeth │Mertia │Rathor │Badnor │ 80 │ 80,000│Do., do.

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ │

Rawat │ Salim │Saktawat │Sesodia│Bansi │ 40 │ 40,000│┌These chiefs have

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ ││ lost all their

Rao │Surajmall│Chauhan │Chauhan│Parsoli │ 40 │ 40,000││ influence and half

│ │ │ │ │ │ │└ their estates.

│ │ │ │ │ │ │┌These chiefs have

Rawat │ Kesari │Kishanawat │Sesodia│Bhainsror │ 60 │ 60,000││ taken rank on the

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ │┤ depression of the

Rawat │ Jawan │Kishanawat │Sesodia│Kurabar │ 35 │ 35,000││ above—they never

│ Singh │ │ │ │ │ ││ appear at court

│ │ │ │ │ │ │└ on the same day.

────────┴─────────┴───────────┴───────┴──────────┼─────────┼──────────┼────────────────────

Total number and estimated value of their │┐ │ │

estates sixty years ago, omitting Bhainsror │├ 1,181 │ 1,310,000│

and Kurabar, then enrolled in the second ││ │ │

grade of chieftains. │┘ │ │

─────────────────────────────────────────────────┴─────────┴──────────┴────────────────────

_Note._—The inferior grades possessed estates to a still larger amount,

conjointly yielding a revenue of thirty lakhs of rupees; and as each

thousand rupees of estate furnished on emergency three horses completely

equipped, the feudal interest could supply nine thousand horse besides

foot, of which they make little account. [Accounts of the present

condition of these nobles will be found in Erskine ii. A. under the

headings of their estates.]

-----

Footnote 4.18.1:

See Appendix, No. VIII., for treaty with the Rana.

Footnote 4.18.2:

Commanded by Major-General Sir R. Donkin, K.C.B.

Footnote 4.18.3:

The author had the honour to be selected by the Marquess of Hastings

to represent him at the Rana’s court, with the title of ‘Political

Agent to the Western Rajput States.’ During the campaign of 1817-18 he

was placed as the point of communication to the various divisions of

the northern army; at the same time being intrusted with the

negotiations with Holkar (previous to the rupture), and with those of

Kotah and Bundi. He concluded the treaty with the latter State _en

route_ to Udaipur, where, as at the latter, there were only the

benefits of moral and political existence to confer.

Footnote 4.18.4:

The author had passed through Bhilwara in May 1806, when it was

comparatively flourishing. On this occasion (Feb. 1818) it was

entirely deserted. It excited a smile, in the midst of regrets, to

observe the practical wit of some of the soldiers, who had supplied

the naked representative of Adinath with an apron—not of leaves, but

scarlet cloth.

Footnote 4.18.5:

The Agent had seen him when a boy, at a meeting already described; but

he could scarcely have hoped to find in one, to the formation of whose

character the times had been so unfavourable, such a specimen as this

descendant of Partap.

Footnote 4.18.6:

A description of the city and valley will be more appropriate

elsewhere.

Footnote 4.18.7:

See p. 508.

Footnote 4.18.8:

The escort consisted of two companies of foot, each of one hundred

men, with half a troop of cavalry. The gentlemen attached to the

mission were Captain Waugh (who was secretary and commandant of the

escort), with Lieutenant Carey as his subaltern. Dr. Duncan was the

medical officer.

Footnote 4.18.9:

[Modes in music.]

Footnote 4.18.10:

The buckler is the tray in which gifts are presented by the Rajputs.

Footnote 4.18.11:

If we dare compare the moral economy of an entire people to the

physical economy of the individual, we should liken this period in the

history of Mewar to intermittent pulsation of the heart—a pause in

moral as in physical existence; a consciousness thereof, inertly

awaiting the propelling power to restore healthful action to a state

of languid repose; or what the Rajput would better comprehend, his own

condition when the opiate stimulant begins to dissipate, and mind and

body are alike abandoned to helpless imbecility. Who has lived out of

the circle of mere vegetation, and not experienced this temporary

deprivation of moral vitality? for no other simile would suit the

painful pause in the sympathies of the inhabitants of this once

fertile region, where experience could point out but one page in their

annals, one period in their history, when the clangour of the war

trumpet was suspended, or the sword shut up in its scabbard. The

portals of Janus at Rome were closed but twice in a period of seven

hundred years; and in exactly the same time from the conquest by

Shihabu-d-din to the great pacification, but twice can we record peace

in Mewar—the reign of Numa has its type in Shah Jahan, while the more

appropriate reign of Augustus belongs to Britain. Are we to wonder

then that a chilling void now occupied (if the solecism is admissible)

the place of interminable action? when the mind was released from the

anxiety of daily, hourly, devising schemes of preservation, to one of

perfect security—that enervating calm, in which, to use their own

homely phrase, _Bher aur bakri ekhi thali se piye_, ‘The wolf and the

goat drank from the same vessel.’ [Another, and more usual form is—_Āj

kal, sher bakrī ek ghāt pāni pitē hain_, ‘Nowadays the tiger and the

goat drink from the same stream.’] But this unruffled torpidity had

its limit: the Agrarian laws of Mewar were but mentioned, and the

national pulse instantly rose.

Footnote 4.18.12:

Or rather, who makes the monogrammatic signet _Sahi_ (‘correct’) to

all deeds, grants, etc.

Footnote 4.18.13:

[Properly Sūratnavīs, ‘statement-writer.’]

Footnote 4.18.14:

The Salumbar chief had his deputy, who resided at court for this sole

duty, for which he held a village. See p. 235.

Footnote 4.18.15:

Niyao, Daftar, Taksala, Silah, Gaddi, Gahna, Kapra-bandar, Ghora,

Rasora, Nakkar-khana, Jaleb, Rawala.

Footnote 4.18.16:

[Sāwan sudi tīj, third of the bright half of the month Sāwan (July to

August), a festival celebrated throughout North India.]

Footnote 4.18.17:

[About 45 miles north of Udaipur city.]

Footnote 4.18.18:

In the Personal Narrative.

Footnote 4.18.19:

Although Bhilwara has not attained that high prosperity my enthusiasm

anticipated, yet the philanthropic Heber records that in 1825 (three

years after I had left the country) it exhibited “a greater appearance

of trade, industry, and moderate but widely diffused wealth and

comfort, than he had witnessed since he left Delhi” [Diary, ed. 1861,

ii. 56 f.]. The record of the sentiments of the inhabitants towards

me, as conveyed by the bishop, was gratifying, though their expression

could excite no surprise in any one acquainted with the characters and

sensibilities of these people. [The author’s anticipation of the

prosperity of this town have not been completely realized; but it is

still an important centre of trade, noted for the manufacture of

cooking utensils, and possessing a ginning factory and a cotton-press

(Erskine ii. A. 97 f.).]

Footnote 4.18.20:

A literal translation of this curious piece of Hindu legislation will

be found at the end of the Appendix. If not drawn up with all the

dignity of the legal enactments of the great governments of the West,

it has an important advantage in conciseness; the articles cannot be

misinterpreted, and require no lawyer to expound them.

Footnote 4.18.21:

"_Kampani Sahib ke namak ke zor se_“ is a common phrase of our native

soldiery; and ”_Dohai! Kampani ki!_" is an invocation or appeal

against injustice; but I never heard this watchword so powerfully

applied as when a _Sub._ with the Resident’s escort in 1812. One of

our men, a noble young Rajput about nineteen years of age, and six

feet high, had been sent with an elephant to forage in the wilds of

Narwar. A band of at least fifty predatory horsemen assailed him, and

demanded the surrender of the elephant, which he met by pointing his

musket and giving them defiance. Beset on all sides, he fired, was cut

down, and left for dead, in which state he was found, and brought to

camp upon a litter. One sabre-cut had opened the back entirely across,

exposing the action of the viscera, and his arms and wrists were

barbarously hacked: yet he was firm, collected, and even cheerful; and

to a kind reproach for his rashness, he said, "What would you have

said, Captain Sahib, had I surrendered the Company’s musket (_Kampani

ki banduq_) without fighting?" From their temperate habits, the wound

in the back did well; but the severed nerves of the wrists brought on

a lockjaw of which he died. The Company have thousands who would alike

die for their _banduq_. It were wise to cherish such feelings.

Footnote 4.18.22:

[An instance of the practice of ‘sitting _dharna_’ to enforce a claim

(Yule-Burnell, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 315 f.).]

Footnote 4.18.23:

See p. 380.

Footnote 4.18.24:

See p. 514 and note.

Footnote 4.18.25:

It will fill up the picture of the times to relate the revenge. When

Jamshid, the infamous lieutenant of the infamous Amir Khan,

established his headquarters at Udaipur, which he daily devastated,

Sardar Singh, then in power, was seized and confined as a hostage for

the payment of thirty thousand rupees demanded of the Rana. The

surviving brothers of the murdered minister Somji ‘purchased their

foe’ with the sum demanded, and anticipated his clansmen, who were on

the point of effecting his liberation. The same sun shone on the head

of Sardar, which was placed as a signal of revenge over the gateway of

Rampiyari’s palace. I had the anecdotes from the minister Siyahal, one

of the actors in these tragedies, and a relative of the brothers, who

were all swept away by the dagger. A similar fate often seemed to him,

though a brave man, inevitable during these resumptions; which

impression, added to the Rana’s known inconstancy of favour, robbed

him of half his energies.

Footnote 4.18.26:

Nearly twelve months after this, my public duty called me to Nimbahera

_en route_ to Kotah. The castle of Hamira was within an hour’s ride,

and at night he was reported as having arrived to visit me, when I

appointed the next day to receive him. Early next morning, according

to custom, I took my ride, with four of Skinner’s Horse, and galloped

past him, stretched with his followers on the ground not far from my

camp, towards his fort. He came to me after breakfast, called me his

greatest friend, “swore by his dagger he was my Rajput,” and that he

would be in future obedient and loyal; but this, I fear, can never be.

Footnote 4.18.27:

Literally faith (_dharma_) to his lord (_swami_).

Footnote 4.18.28:

Paper of relinquishment.

Footnote 4.18.29:

The _dūb_ grass [_Cynodon dactylon_] flourishes in all seasons, and

most in the intense heats; it is not only _amara_ or ‘immortal,’ but

_akshay_, ‘not to be eradicated’; and its tenacity to the soil

deserves the distinction.

Footnote 4.18.30:

From _bap_, ‘father,’ and the termination of, or _belonging to_, and

by which clans are distinguished; as Karansot, ‘descended of Karan’;

Mansinghgot, ‘descended of Mansingh.’ It is curious enough that the

mountain clans of Albania, and other Greeks, have the same

distinguishing termination, and the Mainote of Greece and the Mairot

of Rajputana alike signify _mountaineer_, or ‘of the mountain,’

_maina_ in Albanian; _mairu_ or _meru_ in Sanskrit. [The words have no

connexion.]

Footnote 4.18.31:

_Laws_, ix. 44.

Footnote 4.18.32:

[“When he [the king] has gained victory, let him duly worship the gods

and honour righteous Brāhmanas, let him grant exemptions, and let him

cause promises of safety to be proclaimed. But having fully

ascertained the wishes of all the (conquered), let him place then a

relation of (the vanquished ruler on the throne), and let him impose

his conditions. Let him make authoritative the lawful customs of the

inhabitants, just as they are stated to be” (Manu, _Laws_, vii. 201

f., trans. Bühler, _Sacred Books of the East_, xxv. 248 f.).]

Footnote 4.18.33:

[“Let him [the king] cause his annual revenue in his kingdom to be

collected by trusty (officials), let him obey the sacred law (in his

transactions with) the people, and behave as a father to all men”

(Manu, _Laws_, vii. 80). “Not to turn back in battle, to protect the

people, to honour the Brāhmanas, is the best means for a king to

secure happiness” (_ib._ vii. 88). “From the people let him (the king)

learn (the theory) of the (various) trades and professions” (_ib._

vii. 43). “But (he who is given) to these vices (loses) even his life”

(_ib._ vii. 46), trans. Bühler, _Sacred Books of the East_, xxv.]

Footnote 4.18.34:

_Cani_, ‘land,’ and _atchi_, ‘heritage’: _Report_, p. 289.—I should be

inclined to imagine the _atchi_, like the _ot_ and _awat_, Rajput

terminations, implying clanship. [Tamil _kāniyātchi_, ‘that which is

held in free and hereditary property’; _kāni_, ‘land,’ _ātchi_,

‘inheritance’ (Wilson, _Glossary_, _s.v._; _Madras Manual of

Administration_, iii. 58).]

Footnote 4.18.35:

See p. 195.

Footnote 4.18.36:

See p. 195.

Footnote 4.18.37:

See Sketch of Feudal System, p. 170.

Footnote 4.18.38:

Nahrwala of D’Anville; the Balhara sovereignty of the Arabian

travellers of the eighth and ninth centuries. I visited the remains of

this city on my last journey, and from original authorities shall give

an account of this ancient emporium of commerce and literature.

Footnote 4.18.39:

Salvamenta of the European system.

Footnote 4.18.40:

The author has to acknowledge with regret that he was the cause of the

Mina proprietors not re-obtaining their _bapota_: this arose, partly

from ignorance at the time, partly from the individual claimants being

dead, and more than all, from the representation that the intended

sale originated in a bribe to Sadaram the governor, which, however,

was not the case.

Footnote 4.18.41:

Claims to the _bapota_ appear to be maintainable if not alienated

longer than one hundred and one years; and undisturbed possession (no

matter how obtained) for the same period appears to confer this right.

The _miras_ of Khandesh appears to have been on the same footing. See

Mr. Elphinstone’s _Report_, October 25, 1819, ed. 1872, p. 17 f.,

quoted in _BG_, xii. 266. [The word _mīrās_ means ‘inherited estate,’

the right of disposal of which rests with the holder. The Jāts

certainly did not bring the custom to Kent.]

Footnote 4.18.42:

The _sawmy begum_ of the peninsula in _Fifth Report_, pp. 356-57;

correctly _swami bhoga_, ‘lord’s rent,’ in Sanskrit.

Footnote 4.18.43:

Manu, _Laws_, ix. 52-54, on the _Servile Classes_. [Bühler’s version

differs, but the meaning is practically the same as that of the text.]

Footnote 4.18.44:

Patel.

Footnote 4.18.45:

Patel _barar_.

Footnote 4.18.46:

The Gharginti _barar_, and Kharlakar, or _wood and forage_, explained

in the Feudal System.

Footnote 4.18.47:

In copper-plate grants dug from the ruins of the ancient Ujjain

(presented to the Royal Asiatic Society), the prince’s patents

(_patta_) conferring gifts are addressed to the _Patta-silas_ and

Ryots. I never heard an etymology of this word, but imagine it to be

from _patta_, ‘grant,’ or ‘patent,’ and _sila_, which means a nail, or

sharp instrument; [? _sila_, the stone on which the grant is

engraved]; metaphorically, that which binds or unites these patents;

all, however, having _pati_, or chief, as the basis (see _Transactions

of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. i. p. 237). [_Pati_, ‘chief,’ has

no connexion with _patta_, ‘a grant,’ the latter being the origin of

_patel_. For the position of the Patel see Baden-Powell, _The Indian

Village Community_, 10 ff.; Malcolm, _Memoir of Central India_, 2nd

ed. ii. 14 ff.]

Footnote 4.18.48:

[_Kan_, ‘grain,’ _kūt_, ‘valuation,’ _batāi_ from _batānā_, ‘to

divide.’]

Footnote 4.18.49:

Mui, Barak, and Kapasan.

Footnote 4.18.50:

To effect this, indispensable alike for unity of government and the

establishment of a police, the individual statements of their holders

were taken for the revenues they had derived from them, and money

payments three times the amount were adjudged to them. They were

gainers by this arrangement, and were soon loaded with jewels and

ornaments, but the numerous train of harpies who cheated them and

abused the poor ryot were eternally at work to defeat all such

beneficial schemes; and the counteraction of the intrigues was painful

and disgusting.

Footnote 4.18.51:

Manu [_Laws_, vii. 119] ordains the division into tens, hundreds, and

thousands.

Footnote 4.18.52:

Farmed for the ensuing three years, from 1822, for seven lakhs of

rupees.

Footnote 4.18.53:

In S. 1816, Jawara yielded Rs. 222,000 and Dariba Rs. 80,000. The tin

of these mines contains a portion of silver. [What the Author calls

the tin mines are probably the lead and zinc mines at Jāwar, 16 miles

south of Udaipur city. They seem now to be exhausted, and search might

be made for other untouched pockets of ore. Those at Darība, which

formerly yielded a considerable revenue, have long been closed

(Erskine ii, A. 53).]

Footnote 4.18.54:

There are between two and three thousand towns, villages, and hamlets,

besides the fiscal land of Mewar; but the tribute of the British

Government is derived only from the fiscal; it would have been

impossible to collect from the feudal lands, which are burthened with

service, and form the army of the State.

Footnote 4.18.55:

Sir John Malcolm’s wise and philanthropic measures for the reclamation

of this race in Malwa will support my assertions [_Memoir of Central

India_, 2nd ed. i. 516 ff., ii. 179 ff.].

-----

_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transcriber’s Note

There are references in all three volumes to Genealogical Tables in

Volume I, which were not reprinted in this Crooke edition.

The spelling of names and places is variable, as noted in the Editor’s

introduction to Volume I, as the system of transliteration underwent

many changes in the intervening century. The use of macrons was not yet

introduced in James Tod’s day. This text, with very few exceptions,

follows the text as printed.

Hyphenation of compound words follows the text, with the rare exception

of when it occurs on a line break and the preponderance of other

instances provides clear guidance.

Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and

are noted here.

A missing letter (‘Ch ubīsa’) in note 3.1.37 on p. 167 was established,

by visiting the volume cited, as ‘Chaubīsa’. A missing letter (‘Ch

ubīsa’) in note 37 on p. 167 was established, by visiting the volume

cited, as ‘Chaubīsa’.

The sole footnote on p. 311 had no reference in the text. Based on the

content of the note, the reference has been inserted at the end of the

first paragraph on the page.

The correction to note 4.5.2 beginning on p. 297 was made in order to

close a quotation beginning with ‘cloud of war’, but lacking a closing

quote. Earlier editions supplied the resolution).

Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and

are noted here.

This list contains issues in the main text. References are to the page

and line in the original.

x.36 _Imperial Gazetteer of India_[,] Added.

xlvii.15 Muntakhab[at/u-t]-tawārikh Replaced.

lx.26 the least suspicious kind of historical Added.

evidence[.]

9.24 in the respective historical portions[.] Added.

29.5 the burning plains of Ind[.] Added.

32.18 were learned in the Vedas[.] Added.

48.5 other eight generations anterior[.] Added.

48.7 inhabitants had their appellation, we cannot Added.

say[.]

55.22 descendants of Rama[.] Added.

104.33 after a lapse of 2250 years[.] Added.

110.1 the power of the Pramaras[.] Added.

110.13 to have been patrons of science[.] Added.

166.4 the principality of the Rana of Mewar[.] Added.

222.23 and most powerful fiefs of Mewar[.] Added.

235.19 PANCHOLI RAECHAND a[m/n]d MEHTA MUL DAS Replaced.

251.36 the contemporary of Vikramaditya, [A/B].C. 56. Replaced.

271.10 1[,] Kanaksen Added.

275.16 ‘the rhymer of Aurangabad.[’] Added.

326.5 by a Bhatti Rajput of Jaisalmer[.] Added.

496.17 Rāna Ar[s]i Singh II. Inserted.

504.25 From S. 1825 to S. 1831 [A.D. 1768-74[)/]] Replaced.

544.9 the foreign chieft[ia/ai]ns Transposed.

The following list contains issues corrected or noted in the footnote

text. The reference is to the original page and note, and the line

within the note (which may appear on a later page).

lx.1.2 (Smith, _EHI_, 387, note; _IA_, i. 269 ff., Added.

iii. 17 ff., xxxii. 167 f.[)]

25.3.1 Baghes, ‘the tiger lord.[’] Added.

128.2.6 and said to be built by Puru.[’/”] Replaced.

156.1.11 ‘household.[”/’] Replaced.

166.1.3 smaller units being called Byālisa, 42, or Restored.

Ch[a]ubīsa, 24

166.1.4 _Supplemental Glossary_, 178 ff.[)] Added.

176.1.13 1i. 319.[)] Added.

184.1.8 Art. ‘Relief,[’] Added.

201.3.7 the fief of his vassal without his Replaced.

consent.[’/”]

241.1.7 et les seconds de le régaler quand i[t/l] Replaced.

passait par leur bourg.

255.1.3 the name of Min[n]agara was changed Removed.

262.2.6 Mers in Porbandar (Wilberforce-Bell, _Hist. of Added.

Kathiawad_, 53)

265.3.4 (_Census Report, Rajputana, 1911_, i. 255[)]. Added.

297.1.7 ‘cloud of war rolled from Himachal[’] Added.

333.1.3 _Maharana Kumbha: Sovereign, Soldier, Added.

Scholar_, Ajmer, 1917, p. 2[)].

381.1.2 calcined shell-li[n/m]e Replaced.

386.2.5 upon [s/t]heir refusal to intermarry Replaced.

398.3.1 A colloqu[ai/ia]l contraction for Partap. Transposed.

435.1.3 J[u/a]dunath Sarkar Replaced.

468.2.11 (Scott’s _History of Aurangzeb’s Successors_, Added.

vol. i. p. 132).

469.3.1 ‘a royal grant[’] Added.

491.1.64 Your favour was received by the Pandit Removed.

Pardhan[)]

496.2.2 in 1814, Ranaji Burtia[:/;] in 1813 Replaced.

509.2.2 on the liquidation of the contribution[,/.] Replaced.

563.1.5 since he left De[hl/lh]i Transposed.

573.1.1 [[]_Cynodon dactylon_] Opening

bracket

added.

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