After preparations for the Shastree's marriage had been actively
commenced on both sides, there was no further hindrance. Moro Trimmul
having been made known to the Shastree by Anunda, as she had promised,
the two men soon found a day in the calendar, so far unexceptionable
as regarded planetary influences, that they at once fixed upon it; and
the ladies, having been consulted, declared there were no objections or
hindrances now, for on both sides of the houses everything was prepared.
Meanwhile his new acquaintance was a delightful addition to Vyas
Shastree's circle of friends. Who more accomplished for his age than
Moro Trimmul, more fascinating in manner, or astute in argument and
judgment? He had not the refined beauty of his sister, except that
his eyes were, like hers, large, soft, and very black, with the same
habit of dilation, relaxing into an almost womanish tenderness: but
when aroused, their excited expression was infinitely more fierce
than Radha's, even to savage cruelty. The mouth was always coarse and
sensual, but there was at least good-humour about it if he were not
angered, and a strength of character in the countenance which could
not be mistaken. Now, nothing occurred to cause even a passing cloud,
and the days which intervened between the betrothal and the marriage
were pleasantly spent by all. Even Radha was interested, and clung
more closely to Tara than ever; for with Anunda, as with her aunt, she
preserved the habitual reserve and respect required by their positions.
"I will go to the temple, daughter," said Anunda one evening, "and keep
thy father there. Do thou bring Radha here, and let her look at the
dresses and jewels: if there is anything she wants in addition, tell
me, and we will get it." The good lady could not do too much.
Kind Anunda! it was so considerate. Could any doubt of her ultimate
happiness remain in the girl's heart? What other "sister wife" would
have cared so for her?
Oh, the girl's delight at those gorgeous clothes and jewels! She had
heard of splendid gifts at marriages, and there was one at Wye in
which she had helped to deck the bride; and when she had seen her--she
was but a mere child--dressed in a brocade garment stiff with gold, she
had wondered whether it would ever be possible to possess one like it.
There were several--green and gold, crimson and gold, purple and gold.
The most glossy of Pyetun silks, soft muslin sarees from Narrainpett
and Dhunwar, of which she had heard, but had never seen; they did not
come to her country: all were beautiful.
Then the ornaments. There were massive gold chain anklets, with small
bells to them, armlets, bracelets, ear-rings, necklaces. There was
the sacred "talee," which would be tied round her neck. Tara showed
them all as they were laid out in cotton upon a tray covered with red
muslin. How beautiful they were! and all would belong to her; they
would be put on her the day of the ceremony, and her own taken off as
she entered the house. Then the place where she was to be bathed and
dressed was newly coloured and plastered, and the comfort of the house
and its pretty decorations--all satisfied the girl's longing. It was
what she had pictured to herself; and Tara said her father was kind, so
kind--he would love his little wife after his quiet fashion, and deny
her nothing.
So it was not to be wondered at if any repugnance which she had felt
was fast passing away, and if, when her brother asked her whether she
would be content, she told him she was grateful for what he had done;
and for the time perhaps she was so.
Sukya Bye had told her nephew of Radha's visit to the Shastree's house
by stealth with Tara: she was afraid he might hear of it otherwise,
perhaps through the servants or Gunga, and was rejoiced that he
considered it a happy circumstance. "She will be satisfied with the
wealth," he said, "and all that she sees will excite the desire for
more, and so, aunt, we shall best hold her to our purposes. She cannot
recede now; and, while moulding the Shastree to her will, by-and-by she
need not forget Sivaji Rajah." But he did not tell this to Radha; and
neither by her brother, nor Sukya Bye, was any reference made to the
past. When all was beyond chance of disturbance, he would set her to
work to compass his own ends.
The Shastree and Pundit were of different schools of philosophy; the
former, as we know, belonged to the ancient, and, as he considered,
orthodox, Vedantic school of Véda Vasa; the Pundit to the more modern
Mimansa school of Jomiai, and to the doctrines and mythological
histories of the Poorans. So they had discussions, in which other
Brahmuns of the town joined, while the ladies sat behind a screen
and heard their disputations, and Tara explained to them what she
could follow. Or the friends played at chess, both having excellent
skill;--the Shastree calm and steady, the Pundit fiery and impetuous,
as were their natures; and so they had many an earnest battle.
It was not long before the politics which then agitated the country
began to be discussed between them. They lived under the same
Mahomedan government, that of Beejapoor: but while Tooljapoor and the
districts around it were as yet in entire subjection, those to the
west--particularly the wild rugged country beyond Wye, the Mawuls or
mountain-valleys of the Ghauts, stretching into the Dekhan--owed but
a slight allegiance to the Mahomedan dynasty, and perhaps had never
been completely subdued. Here it was that many of the oldest Mahratta
families had taken refuge after the overthrow of the Hindu dynasty of
Deogurh, the modern Dowlutabad, and the subsequent subjection of the
country by the Mahomedan Emperors of Delhi; and it was among these
families, the Bhóslays, Nimbalkurs, Morays, Ghoreparays, and others,
that the germs of that combination to resist--to them an oppressive and
corrupt government--existed, which was presently to be ripened into a
successful revolution.
On the other hand, this dynasty of Beejapoor had already been
attacked by the immense power of the Emperors of Delhi; and while
the independent kingdom of Ahmednugger--itself at one period little
inferior in splendour to that of Beejapoor--had been entirely
subdued, and the princes of its house annihilated by the Moghuls, any
combination to resist them by the two states had not only been rendered
impossible, but it was clear that Beejapoor would follow its example:
and those were not wanting who hoped, under a new power, to regain many
privileges which hitherto had been withheld from them.
But it was in the antagonism of the two contending Mahomedan powers
that the Hindu families of the Dekhan saw the means of emancipation
from both. It might be a work of time, and of immense labour and skill:
but the opportunity seemed to present itself; and while feigning
submission alike to the Moghuls, as after the conquest of Ahmednugger
their forces were poured into the provinces which had formed that
kingdom, and, on the other hand, to the older-established dynasty of
Beejapoor, a stirring spirit began to be aroused among the Mahrattas;
and that secret combination silently progressed, of which Moro Pundit
was one among many other agents employed by Sivaji, the prince to whom
all now looked as the present head, if not the instigator, of the
movement.
It had, in fact, already been some time covertly in progress. Shahji
Bhóslay, the father, of Sivaji, had commenced it in a series of wild
irregular forays and raids from his patrimonial estate, which was
situated among the Mawuls west of Poona, against the Mahomedan posts
and garrisons of the western provinces of Beejapoor. For a time he
was successful, but only as a mere freebooter; and in the end he was
defeated, taken prisoner, and confined in a dungeon in Beejapoor for
several years by the monarch Mahmood Adil Shah, the father of the king
reigning at Beejapoor at the period of our tale. But Mahmood was not
implacable. On the intercession of his mother, by whose wise counsels
he had often been guided, Shahji was not only released but raised to a
high command, and during the subsequent invasion of Beejapoor by the
Moghuls did good service, and so the progress of the Mahratta power was
stayed.
Of his two sons, Sivaji early took the lead, and, encouraged by his
mother, a lady of high family and ambition, and admirable judgment,
he aspired to be the head of a Mahratta confederacy. What progress he
eventually made is already matter of history, which will have no record
in these pages; but at the time of which we write, he was strengthening
himself in his own wild country, collecting adherents, canvassing those
who still held aloof, fortifying rugged and inaccessible strongholds,
and, by the suddenness and successful issue of his continuous forays,
was rendering himself famous in the eyes of the people. While he
treated with both of the rival Mahomedan powers by turns, he took his
own course; and yielding alternately to each whenever their force was
locally in excess of his own, was in reality faithful to neither.
To Sivaji, also, belonged the prestige which none else had dared to
assume--that of receiving aid from heavenly powers. The goddess Bhowani
was the tutelar deity of his family; and it was the popular belief that
she had chosen his father as the champion of her faith, but that he had
transgressed warnings and visions, and, implacable as she was believed
to be, she had cast him off. It was otherwise, however, with his second
son Sivaji. She had chosen him to be the scourge of the cow-slaying,
impure, and licentious Mahomedans. The cries of her votaries had arisen
to her, and the land was to be purged of uncleanness. Temples would be
again filled with Brahmuns, and the sweet incense of pure sacrifice
would ascend to her. The mother of Sivaji, it was reported, saw and
recorded visions, too glorious to relate, in which her son was a
victorious conqueror, and the infidel Mahomedans were slain in tens of
thousands by the Mahratta people in those great battles which were to
ensue. And these visions were believed.
As yet these prophecies were circulated privately among the people,
but there was not a Mahratta, far or near, who did not know of them.
Ballads were written about them, and sung at fairs and markets. Women
composed and chanted extempore verses as the household mills flew
merrily round in the early morning. Men sang them to their oxen as
they ploughed, or drew water from their wells; and so a spirit spread
through the people which eventually became irresistibly powerful.
In this excitement, too, existed the incentive to the worship of
Bhowani at all her most celebrated shrines; and everywhere--to gather
her votaries together, to excite them to action, and to warn them to
be ready when the time arrived--were agents such as Moro Trimmul,
despatched by the young chieftain. Nothing appeared on the surface.
Experience had taught extreme caution. There were no assemblies of
armed men, no displays of force: an occasional successful raid or
resistance by Sivaji kept up what might well be called the national
spirit; but all delayed to strike, till, in the expressive Mahratta
phrase, Dônguras, lavilé Déva, "the fire was on the hills."
Very dexterously, therefore, and after having prepared him for the
communication, did Moro Trimmul confide to the Shastree some of
the popularly-reported plans of his friend and prince, and sought
his counsel and assistance, and partly also the purport of his own
mission. He asked information as to the families of the Bâlâ Ghaut,
the Nimbalkurs of Wasi, the Kallays of Nelinga, the Bhóslays and
Ghoreparays of Akalkote, all neighbours; and also respecting the
wealthy yeomen and farmers of the country. He did not mention Pahar
Singh, with whom, through the Gosaees of Kullianee, and their agency at
Tooljapoor, he had already opened negotiations, and found the robber
chieftain fickle and undecided, extravagant in his demands for estates,
for high command, and other rewards.
Nor did he disclose that weightier secret, known to his prince and
himself, on which, for the present, the success of their enterprise
rested. Khan Mahomed, the Wuzeer, or Prime Minister, of Beejapoor,
might be detached, it was said, from the royal interest of his house;
and he was then, with a large army, lying at and about Nuldroog, little
more than twenty miles distant from Tooljapoor. To this man, at his
own request, in phrases only to be interpreted by himself, a letter
had been forwarded through the Gosaee banker's agent at Tooljapoor;
but no reply had been received. Nor was Moro Trimmul sanguine on the
subject, for reports of the Wuzeer's intrigues in other quarters were
in men's mouths. No; it was from the Mahratta families alone that he
had expectations; and he knew that at the ensuing festival, all or most
of the province would assemble at Tooljapoor.
To say that he found a zealous coadjutor, or hoped for one, in the
Shastree, would not be correct. The Shastree was not ambitious. He
enjoyed already, as we know, a very lucrative and prominent position,
in which he was honoured and respected. He avoided all Mahomedans upon
principle; but the governors of the province often sought his advice
and assistance in civil and judicial matters regarding Hindus, and
he was not only never molested, but, on the contrary, respected and
treated with consideration, and had even been invited to court. He
had, therefore, no quarrel with the Mahomedans, and he well knew their
power. He had watched Shahji's failures, and he had noted the effect of
Sivaji's efforts; still he admitted there was more chance of success
now than before; and he agreed to assist Moro Trimmul, by bringing
him into communication with the gentry of the province, provided he
were not required to take any prominent part in what should follow.
To say that Vyas Shastree was indifferent in this matter, would be
incorrect; but to anticipate enthusiasm or personal zeal would have
been impossible from his character, and Moro Trimmul did not expect
them.
"After the ceremony," he said to the Shastree, "Radha, of course, will
remain with you. Sukya Bye will return to Wye with the servants. Give
me, then, letters to the Nimbalkurs of Wasi, and to such others as you
please, and I will go alone. Introduce me as a reciter of plays, and
I will make my own way unnoticed and unsuspected. Here I can be of no
use, and may even attract suspicion."
To this plan Vyas Shastree gave his cordial consent. Moro Trimmul would
go before the Now Râtree, and return for the festival.