=Fate of the Family of Jaswant Singh.=—“When Jaswant died beyond the
Attock, his wife, the (future) mother of Ajit, determined to burn with
her lord, but being in the seventh month of her pregnancy, she was
forcibly prevented by Uda Kumpawat. His other queen and seven Patras
(concubines) mounted the pyre; and as soon as the tidings reached
Jodhpur, the Chandravati queen, taking a turban of her late lord,
ascended the pile at Mandor. The Hindu race was in despair at the loss
of the support of their faith. The bells of the temple were mute; the
sacred shell no longer sounded at sunrise; the Brahmans vitiated their
doctrines and learned the Muslim creed.”[5.7.1]
=Birth of Ajīt Singh.=—The queen was delivered of a boy, who received
the name of Ajit. As soon as she was able to travel, the Rathor
contingent, with their infant prince, his mother, the daughters, and
establishment of their late sovereign, prepared to return to their
native land. But the unrelenting tyrant, carrying his vengeance towards
Jaswant even beyond the grave, as soon they reached Delhi, commanded
that the infant should be surrendered to his custody. “Aurang offered to
divide Maru amongst [59] them if they would surrender their prince; but
they replied, ‘Our country is with our sinews, and these can defend both
it and our Lord.’ With eyes red with rage, they left the Amm-khass.
Their abode was surrounded by the host of the Shah. In a basket of
sweetmeats they sent away the young prince, and prepared to defend their
honour; they made oblations to the gods, took a double portion of opium,
and mounted their steeds. Then spoke Ranchhor, and Govind the son of
Jodha, and Chandarbhan the Darawat, and the son of Raghu, on whose
shoulders the sword had been married at Ujjain, with the fearless
Baharmall the Udawat, and the Sujawat, Raghunath. ‘Let us swim,’ they
exclaimed, ‘in the ocean of fight. Let us root up these Asuras, and be
carried by the Apsaras to the mansions of the sun.’ As thus each spoke,
Suja the bard took the word: ‘For a day like this,’ said he, ‘you enjoy
your fiefs (_pattas_), to give in your lord’s cause your bodies to the
sword, and in one mass to gain _swarga_ (heaven). As for me, who enjoyed
his friendship and his gifts, this day will I make his salt resplendent.
My father’s fame will I uphold, and lead the death in this day’s fight,
that future bards may hymn my praise.’ Then spake Durga, son of Asa:
‘The teeth of the Yavans are whetted, but by the lightning emitted from
our swords, Delhi shall witness our deeds; and the flame of our anger
shall consume the troops of the Shah.’ As thus the chiefs communed, and
the troops of the king approached, the Rajloka[5.7.2] of their late lord
was sent to inhabit Swarga. Lance in hand, with faces resembling
Yama,[5.7.3] the Rathors rushed upon the foe. Then the music of swords
and shields commenced. Wave followed wave in the field of blood.
Sankara[5.7.4] completed his chaplet in the battle fought by the
children of Duhar in the streets of Delhi. Ratna contended with nine
thousand of the foe; but his sword failed, and as he fell, Rambha[5.7.5]
carried him away. Dila the Darawat made a gift of his life;[5.7.6] the
salt of his lord he mixed with the water of the field.[5.7.7]
Chandarbhan was conveyed by the [60] Apsaras to Chandrapur.[5.7.8] The
Bhatti was cut piecemeal and lay on the field beside the son of Surthan.
The faithful Udawat appeared like the crimson lotus; he journeyed to
Swarga to visit Jaswant. Sanda the bard, with a sword in either hand,
was in the front of the battle, and gained the mansion of the
moon.[5.7.9] Every tribe and every clan performed its duty in this day’s
pilgrimage to the stream of the sword, in which Durgadas ground the foe
and saved his honour.”[5.7.10]
=The Johar.=—When these brave men saw that nothing short of the
surrender of all that was dear to a Rajput was intended by the
fiend-like spirit of the king, their first thought was the preservation
of their prince; the next to secure their own honour and that of their
late master. The means by which they accomplished this were terrific.
The females of the deceased, together with their own wives and
daughters, were placed in an apartment filled with gunpowder, and the
torch applied—all was soon over. This sacrifice accomplished, their sole
thought was to secure a niche in that immortal temple, which the Rajput
bard, as well as the great minstrel of the west, peoples with “youths
who died, to be by poets sung.” For this, the Rajput’s anxiety has in
all ages been so great, as often to defeat even the purpose of revenge,
his object being to die gloriously rather than to inflict death; assured
that his name would never perish, but, preserved in “immortal rhyme” by
the bard, would serve as the incentive to similar deeds. Accordingly,
“the battle fought by the sons of Duharia[5.7.11] in the streets of
Delhi” is one of the many themes of everlasting eulogy to the Rathors;
and the seventh of Sravan, S. 1736 (the second month of the Monsoon of
A.D. 1680), is a sacred day in the calendar of Maru.
In the midst of this furious contest, the infant prince was saved. To
avoid suspicion the heir of Maru, concealed in a basket of sweetmeats,
was entrusted to a Muslim, who religiously executed his trust and
conveyed him to the appointed spot, where he was joined by the gallant
Durgadas with the survivors who had cut their way through all
opposition, and who were doomed often to bleed for the prince thus
miraculously preserved. It is pleasing to find that if to “the leader
[61] of the faithful,” the bigoted Aurangzeb, they owed so much misery,
to one (and he of humble life), of the same faith, they owed the
preservation of their line. The preserver of Ajit lived to witness his
manhood and the redemption of his birthright, and to find that princes
are not always ungrateful; for he was distinguished at court, was never
addressed but as _Kaka_, or uncle, by the prince; and to the honour of
his successors be it told, the lands then settled upon him are still
enjoyed by his descendants.
=The Youth of Ajīt Singh. Campaign of Aurangzeb in Mārwār.=—With the
sole surviving scion of Jaswant, the faithful Durga and a few chosen
friends repaired to the isolated rock of Abu, and placed him in a
monastery of recluses. There the heir of Maru was reared in entire
ignorance of his birth. Still rumours prevailed, that a son of Jaswant
lived; that Durga and a few associates were his guardians; and this was
enough for the loyal Rajput, who, confiding in the chieftain of Dunara,
allowed the mere name of Dhani (lord) to be his rallying-word in the
defence of his rights. These were soon threatened by a host of enemies,
amongst whom were the Indhas, the ancient sovereigns of Maru, who saw an
opening for the redemption of their birthright, and for a short time
displayed the flag of the Parihars on the walls of Mandor. While the
Indhas were rejoicing at the recovery of their ancient capital, endeared
to them by tradition, an attempt was made by Ratna,[5.7.12] the son of
Amra Singh (whose tragical death has been related), to obtain the seat
of power, Jodhpur. This attempt, instigated by the king, proved futile;
and the clans, faithful to the memory of Jaswant and the name of Ajit,
soon expelled the Indhas from Mandor, and drove the son of Amra to his
castle of Nagor. It was then that Aurangzeb, in person, led his army
into Maru; the capital was invested; it fell and was pillaged, and all
the great towns in the plains, as Merta, Didwana, and Rohat, shared a
similar fate. The emblems of religion were trampled under foot, the
temples thrown down, mosques were erected on their site, and nothing
short of the compulsory conversion to the tenets of Islam of every
Rajput in Marwar would satisfy his revenge.[5.7.13] The consequences of
this fanatical and impolitic conduct recoiled not only upon the emperor
but his whole race, for it roused an opposition to this iron yoke, which
ultimately broke it in pieces. The emperor promulgated that famous
edict, the Jizya, against the whole Hindu race, which cemented into one
compact union all who cherished either patriotism or religion. It was at
this period of time, when the Rathors and Sesodias united [62] against
the tyrant, that Rana
Raj Singh indited that celebrated epistle, which is given in a preceding
part of this work.[5.7.14]
“Seventy thousand men,” says the bard,[5.7.15] “under Tahawwur Khan,
were commanded to destroy the Rajputs, and Aurang followed in person to
Ajmer. The Mertia clan assembled, and advanced to Pushkar to oppose him.
The battle was in front of the temple of Varaha, where the swords of the
Mertias, always first in the fight, played the game of destruction on
the heads of the Asuras. Here the Mertias were all slain on the 11th
Bhadon, S. 1736.
“Tahawwur continued to advance. The inhabitants of Murdhar fled to the
mountains. At Gura the brothers Rupa and Kumbha took post with their
clan to oppose him; but they fell with twenty-five of their brethren. As
the cloud pours water upon the earth, so did Aurang pour his barbarians
over the land. He remained but five days at Ajaidurg (Ajmer), and
marched against Chitor. It fell: it appeared as if the heavens had
fallen. Ajit was protected by the Rana, and the Rathors led the van in
the host of the Sesodias. Seeing the strength of the Yavans, they shut
up the young prince, like a flame confined in a vessel. Delhipat (the
king of Delhi) came to Debari,[5.7.16] at whose pass he was opposed by
Kumbha, Ugarsen, and Uda, all Rathors. While Aurangzeb attacked Udaipur,
Azam was left at Chitor. Then the king learned that Durgadas had invaded
Jalor; he abandoned his conquest, and returned to Ajmer, sending
Mukarrab Khan to aid Bihari at Jalor; but Durga had raised contributions
[63] (_dand_), and passed to Jodhpur, alike forced to contribute; for
the son of Indar Singh, on the part of the king, now commanded in
Trikuta (triple-peaked mount). Aurang Shah measured the heavens; he
determined to have but one faith in the land. Prince Akbar was sent to
join Tahawwur Khan. Rapine and conflagration spread over the land. The
country became a waste; fear stalked triumphant. Providence had willed
this affliction. The Indhas were put in possession of Jodhpur; but were
encountered at Ketapur and put to the sword by the Champawats. Once more
they lost the title of Raos of Murdardes, and thus the king’s intentions
of bestowing sovereignty on the Parihars were frustrated on the 13th day
of Jeth, S. 1736.
=Retreat of the Rathors.=—“The Aravalli gave shelter to the Rathors.
From its fastnesses they issued, and mowed down entire harvests of the
Muslim, piling them in _khallas_.[5.7.17] Aurang had no repose. Jalor
was invaded by one body, Siwana by another of the faithful chiefs of
Ajit, whose _an_[5.7.18] daily increased, while Aurang’s was seldom
invoked. The king gave up the war against the Rana to send all his
troops into Maru; but the Rana, who provoked the rage of Aurang from
granting refuge to Ajit, sent his troops under his own son, Bhim, who
joined the Rathors, led by Indarbhan and Durgadas in Godwar. Prince
Akbar and Tahawwur Khan advanced upon them, and a battle took place at
Nadol. The Sesodias had the right. The combat was long and bloody.
Prince Bhim fell at the head of the Mewaris: he was a noble bulwark to
the Rathors.[5.7.19] Indarbhan was slain, with Jeth the Udawat,
performing noble deeds; and Soning Durga did wonders on that day, the
14th Asoj, S. 1737” (the winter of A.D. 1681).
=The Rebellion of Prince Akbar, A.D. 1681.=—The gallant bearing of the
Rajputs in this unequal combat, their desperate devotion to their
country and prince, touched the soul of Prince Akbar, who had the
magnanimity to commiserate the sufferings he was compelled to inflict,
and to question the policy of his father towards these gallant vassals.
Ambition came to the aid of compassion for the sufferings of the
Rathors, and the persecution of the minor son of Jaswant. He opened his
mind to Tahawwur Khan, and exposed the [64] disgrace of bearing arms in
so unholy a warfare, and in severing from the crown such devoted and
brave vassals as the Rathors. Tahawwur was gained over, and an embassy
sent to Durgadas offering peace, and expressing a wish for a conference.
Durga convened the chiefs, and disclosed the overture; but some
suspected treachery in the prince, others selfish views on the part of
Durga. To prevent the injurious operation of such suspicions, Durga
observed, that if assent were not given to the meeting, it would be
attributed to the base motive of fear. “Let us proceed in a body,” said
he, “to this conference; who ever heard of a cloud being caught?” They
met; mutual views were developed; a treaty was concluded, and the
meeting ended by Akbar waving the umbrella of regality over his
head.[5.7.20] He coined in his own name; he established his own weights
and measures. The poisoned intelligence was poured into Aurang’s ear at
Ajmer; his soul was troubled; he had no rest; he plucked his beard in
grief when he heard that Durga and Akbar had united. Every Rathor in the
land flocked to Akbar’s standard. The house of Delhi was divided, and
Govind[5.7.21] again supported the Hindu faith.
The dethronement of the tyrant appeared inevitable. The scourge of the
Rajputs was in their power, for he was almost alone and without the hope
of succour. But his energies never forsook him; he knew the character of
his foes, and that on an emergency his grand auxiliary, stratagem, was
equal to an army. As there is some variation both in the Mogul
historian’s account of this momentous transaction and in the annals of
Mewar and Marwar,[5.7.22] we present the latter _verbatim_ from the
chronicle.
“Akbar, with multitudes of Rajputs, advanced upon Ajmer. But while
Aurang prepared for the storm, the prince gave himself up to women and
the song, placing everything in the hands of Tahawwur Khan. We are the
slaves of fate; puppets that dance as it pulls the strings. Tahawwur
allowed himself to dream of treason; it was whispered in his ear that if
he could deliver Akbar to his father, high rewards would follow. At
night he went privily to Aurangzeb, and thence wrote to the Rathors: ‘I
was the bond of union betwixt you and Akbar, but the dam which separated
the waters has broken down. Father and son again are one. Consider the
pledges, given and received, as restored, and depart for your own
lands.’ Having sealed this with his signet, and dispatched a messenger
to the Rathors, he appeared before Aurangzeb to receive the fruit of his
service. But his treason met its [65] reward, and before he could say,
the imperial orders were obeyed, a blow of the mace from the hand of the
monarch sent his soul to hell. At midnight the Dervesh messenger reached
the Rathor camp; he put the letter into their hand, which stated father
and son were united; and added from himself that Tahawwur Khan was
slain. All was confusion; the Rathors saddled and mounted, and moved a
coss from Akbar’s camp. The panic spread to his troops, who fled like
the dried leaves of the sugar-cane when carried up in a whirlwind, while
the prince was attending to the song and the wiles of the wanton.”
=The Rāthors abandon Akbar.=—This narrative exemplifies most strongly
the hasty unreflecting character of the Rajput, who always acts from the
impulse of the moment. They did not even send to Akbar’s camp, although
close to their own, to inquire the truth or falsehood of the report, but
saddled and did not halt until they were twenty miles asunder. It is
true, that in these times of peril they did not know in whom to confide;
and being headed by one of their own body, they could not tell how far
he might be implicated in the treachery.
The next day they were undeceived by the junction of the prince, who,
when made acquainted with the departure of his allies, and the treason
and death of Tahawwur Khan, could scarcely collect a thousand men to
abide by his fortunes. With these he followed his panic-struck allies,
and threw himself and his family upon their hospitality and
protection—an appeal never made in vain to the Rajput. The poetic
account, by the bard Karnidhan, of the reception of the prince by the
chivalry of Maru, is remarkably minute and spirited:—the warriors and
senators enter into a solemn debate as to the conduct to be pursued to
the prince now claiming _saran_ (sanctuary), when the bard takes
occasion to relate the pedigree and renown of the chiefs of every clan.
Each chief delivers his sentiments in a speech full of information
respecting their national customs and manners. It also displays a good
picture of “the power of the swans, and the necessity of feeding them
with pearls,” to enable them to sing with advantage. The council breaks
up with the declaration of its determination to protect Akbar at all
hazards, and Jetha, the brother of the head of the Champawats, is
nominated to the charge of protector of Akbar’s family. The gallant
Durga, the Ulysses of the Rathors, is the manager of this dramatic
convention, the details of which are wound up with an eulogy in true
oriental hyperbole, in the Doric accents of Maru: [66]—
_Māi chā pūt jin,
Jehā Durgādās,
Band Murdhara rakhiyo
Vin thāmbhā ākās._[5.7.23]
“O mother! produce such sons as Durgadas, who first supported the dam of
Murdhara, and then propped the heavens.”
=Character of Durgadās.=—This model of a Rajput, as wise as he was
brave, was the saviour of his country. To his suggestion it owed the
preservation of its prince, and to a series of heroic deeds, his
subsequent and more difficult salvation. Many anecdotes are extant
recording the dread Aurangzeb had of this leader of the Rathors, one of
which is amusing. The tyrant had commanded pictures to be drawn of two
of the most mortal foes to his repose, Sivaji and Durga: “Siva was drawn
seated on a couch; Durga in his ordinary position, on horseback,
toasting _bātis_ or barley-cakes, with the point of his lance, on a fire
of maize-stalks. Aurangzeb, at the first glance, exclaimed, ‘I may
entrap that fellow (meaning Sivaji), but this dog is born to be my
bane.s’”
Durga at the head of his bands, together with young Akbar, moved towards
the western extremity of the State, in hopes that they might lead the
emperor in pursuit amongst the sandhills of the Luni; but the wily
monarch tried other arts, and first attempted to corrupt Durga. He sent
him eight thousand gold mohurs,[5.7.24] which the Rajput instantly
applied to the necessities of Akbar, who was deeply affected at this
proof of devotion, and distributed a portion of it amongst Durga’s
retainers. Aurangzeb, seeing the futility of this plan, sent a force in
pursuit of his son, who, knowing he had no hope of mercy if he fell into
his father’s hands, was anxious to place distance between them. Durga
pledged himself for his safety, and relinquished all to ensure it.
Making over the guardianship of young Ajit to his elder brother, Soning,
and placing himself at the head of one thousand chosen men, he turned
towards the south. The bard enumerates the names and families of all the
chieftains of note who formed the bodyguard of prince Akbar in this
desperate undertaking. The Champawats were the most numerous, but he
specifies several of the home clans, as the Jodha and Mertia, and
amongst the foreign Rajputs, the Jadon, Chauhan, Bhatti, Deora,
Sonigira, and Mangalia [67].
=Escape of Prince Akbar.=—“The king followed their retreat: his troops
surrounded the Rathors; but Durga with one thousand chosen men left the
north on their backs, and with the speed of the winged quitted the camp.
Aurang continued the pursuit to Jalor, when he found he had been led on
a wrong scent, and that Durga, with the prince, keeping Gujarat on his
right, and Chappan[5.7.25] on his left, had made good his retreat to the
Nerbudda. Rage so far got the better of his religion, that he threw the
Koran at the head of the Almighty. In wrath, he commanded Azam to
exterminate the Rathors, but to leave Udaipur on one side,[5.7.26] and
every other design, and first secure his brother. The deeds of
Kamunda[5.7.27] removed the troubles of Mewar, as the wind disperses the
clouds which shade the brightness of the moon. In ten days after Azam
marched, the emperor himself moved, leaving his garrisons in Jodhpur and
Ajmer. Durga’s name was the charm which made the hosts of locusts quit
their ground.[5.7.28] Durga was the sea-serpent; Akbar the mountain with
which they churned the ocean Aurang, and made him yield the fourteen
gems, one of which our religion regained, which is Lakshmi, and our
faith, which is Dhanwantari[5.7.29] the sage.
“In fidelity who excelled the Khichis Sheo Singh and Mukund, who never
left the person of Ajit, when his infancy was concealed in the mountains
of Arbud? to them alone, and the faithful Sonigira, did Durga confide
the secret of his retreat. The vassals of the Nine Castles of Maru knew
that he was concealed; but where or in whose custody all were ignorant.
Some thought he was at Jaisalmer; others at Bikampur; others at Sirohi.
The eight divisions nobly supported the days of their exile; their
sinews sustained the land of Murdhar. Raos, Rajas, and Ranas applauded
their deeds, for all were alike enveloped in the net of destruction. In
all the nine thousand [towns] of Murdhar, and the ten thousand of
Mewar,[5.7.30] inhabitants there were none. Inayat Khan was left with
ten thousand men to preserve Jodhpur; but the Champawat is the
Sumer[5.7.31] of Maru, and without fear was Durga’s brother, Soning.
With Khemkaran the Karanot, and Sabhal the Jodha, Bijmall the Mahecha,
Jethmall Sujot, Kesari Karanot, and the Jodha brethren Sheodan and Bhim,
and many more collected their clans and kin, and as soon as they heard
that the king was within four coss of Ajmer they blockaded the Khan [68]
in the city of Jodha; but twenty thousand Moguls came to the rescue.
Another dreadful conflict ensued at the gates of Jodhpur, in which the
Jadon Kishor, who led the battle, and many other chiefs were slain, yet
not without many hundreds of the foe; the 9th Asarh, S. 1737.
“Soning carried the sword and the flame into every quarter. Aurang could
neither advance nor retreat. He was like the serpent seizing the
musk-rat, which, if liberated, caused blindness; but if swallowed, was
like poison. Harnath and Kana Singh took the road to Sojat. They
surrounded and drove away the cattle, which brought the Asurs to the
rescue. A dreadful strife ensued; the chief of the Asurs was slain, but
the brothers and all their kin bedewed the land with their blood. This,
the _sakha_ of Sojat, was when 1737 ended and 1738 commenced, when the
sword and the pestilence (_mari_[5.7.32]) united to clear the land.
“Soning was the Rudra of the field; Agra and Delhi trembled at his
deeds; he looked on Aurang as the waning moon. The king sent an embassy
to Soning; it was peace he desired. He offered the mansab of Sat Hazari
for Ajit,[5.7.33] and what dignities he might demand for his
brethren—the restoration of Ajmer, and to make Soning its governor. To
the engagement was added, ‘the panja is affixed in ratification of this
treaty, witnessed by God Almighty.’[5.7.34] The Diwan, Asad Khan, was
the negotiator, and the Aremdi,[5.7.35] who was with him, solemnly swore
to its maintenance. The treaty concluded, the king, whose thoughts could
not be diverted from Akbar, departed for the Deccan. Asad Khan was left
at Ajmer, and Soning at Merta [69]. But Soning was a thorn in the side
of Aurangzeb; he bribed the Brahmans, who threw pepper into the Homa
(burnt sacrifice) and secured for Soning a place in Suraj Mandala (the
mansion of the sun). The day following the treaty, by the incantations
of Auranga, Soning was no more.[5.7.36] Asoj the 6th, S. 1738.
“Asad sent the news to the king. This terror being removed, the king
withdrew his _panja_ from his treaty, and in joy departed for the
Deccan. The death of Soning shed gloom and grief over the land. Then
Mukund Singh Mertia, son of Kalyan, abandoned his mansab and joined his
country’s cause. A desperate encounter soon followed with the troops of
Asad Khan near Merta, in which Ajit, the son of Bitaldas, who led the
fight, was slain, with many of each clan, which gave joy to the Asurs,
but grief to the faithful Rajput; on the second day of the bright half
of the moon of Kartik, S. 1738.
“Prince Azam was left with Asad Khan; Inayat at Jodhpur; and their
garrisons were scattered over the land, as their tombs (_gor_)
everywhere attest. The lord of Chandawal, Shambhu Kumpawat, now led the
Rathors with Udang Singh Bakhshi, and Tejsi, the young son of Durga, the
bracelet on the arm of Mahadeva, with Fateh Singh and Ram Singh, just
returned from placing Akbar safely in the Deccan, and many other valiant
Rathors.[5.7.37] They spread over the country even to Mewar, sacked
Pur-Mandal, and slew the governor Kasim Khan.”
These desultory and bloody affrays, though they kept the king’s troops
in perpetual alarm and lost them myriads of men, thinned the ranks of
the defenders of Maru, who again took refuge in the Aravalli. From
thence, watching every opportunity, they darted on their prey. On one
occasion they fell upon the garrison of Jaitaran, which they routed and
expelled, or as the chronicle quaintly says, “with the year 1739 they
also fled.” At the same time, the post of Sojat was carried by Bija
Champawat, while the Jodhawats, under Ram Singh, kept their foes in play
to the northward, and led by Udaibhan attacked the Mirza Nur Ali at
Charai: “the contest lasted for three hours; the dead bodies of the
Yavans lay in heaps in the Akhara; who even abandoned their
Nakkaras.”[5.7.38]
“After the affair of Jaitaran, when Udai Singh Champawat and Mohkam
Singh Mertia were the leaders, they made a push for Gujarat, and had
penetrated to [70] Kheralu,[5.7.39] when they were attacked, pursued,
and surrounded in the hills at Renpur, by Sayyid Muhammad, the Hakim of
Gujarat. All night they stood to their arms. In the morning the sword
rained and filled the cars of the Apsaras. Karan and Kesari were slain,
with Gokuldas Bhatti, with all their civil officers, and Ram Singh
himself renounced life on this day.[5.7.40] But the Asurs pulled up the
reins, having lost many men. Pali was also attacked in the month of
Bhadon this year 1739; then the game of destruction was played with Nur
Ali, three hundred Rathors against five hundred of the king’s troops,
which were routed, losing their leader, Afzal Khan, after a desperate
struggle.
“Bala was the hero who drove the Yavan from this post. Udaya attacked
the Sidi at Sojat. Jaitaran was again reinforced. In Baisakh, Mohkam
Singh Mertia attacked the royal post at Merta, slew Sayyid Ali, and
drove out the king’s troops.”
=Assistance given by the Bhattis.=—The year 1739 was one of perpetual
conflict, of captures and recaptures, in which many parties of twenty
and thirty on each side fell. They afford numerous examples of heroic
patriotism, in which Rathor blood was lavishly shed; but while to them
each warrior was a loss not to be replaced, the despot continued to feed
the war with fresh troops. The Bhattis of Jaisalmer came forward this
year, and nobly shed their blood in seconding the efforts of the Rathors
in this patriotic warfare.
“In S. 1740, Azam and Asad Khan joined the emperor in the Deccan, and
Inayat Khan was left in command at Ajmer—being enjoined not to relax the
war in Marwar, even with the setting in of the rains. Merwara afforded a
place of rendezvous for the Rathors, and security for their families.
Here eleven thousand of the best troops of Inayat invaded the hills to
attack the united Jodhas and Champawats, who retaliated on Pali, Sojat,
and Godwar. The ancient Mandor, which was occupied by a garrison under
Khwaja Salah, was attacked by the Mandecha Bhatti and driven out. At
Bagri, a desperate encounter took place in the month of Baisakh, when
Ram Singh and Samant Singh, both Bhatti chiefs, fell, with two hundred
of their vassals, slaying one thousand of the Moguls. The Karamsots and
Kumpawats, under Anup Singh, scoured the banks of the Luni, and put to
the sword the garrisons of Ustara and Gangani. Mohkam, with his Mertias,
made a descent on his patrimonial lands, and drew upon him the whole
force of its [71] governor, Muhammad Ali. The Mertias met him on their
own native plains. The Yavan proposed a truce, and at the interview
assassinated the head of the Mertias, tidings of whose death rejoiced
the Shah in the Deccan.
“At the beginning of 1741, neither strife nor fear had abated. Sujan
Singh led the Rathors in the south, while Lakha Champawat and Kesar
Kumpawat, aided by the Bhattis and Chauhans, kept the garrison of
Jodhpur in alarm. When Sujan was slain, the bard was sent to Sangram,
who held a mansab and lands from the king; he was implored to join his
brethren; he obeyed, and all collected around Sangram.[5.7.41]
Siwancha[5.7.42] was attacked, and with Bhalotra and Panchbhadra were
plundered; while the blockaded garrisons were unable to aid. An hour
before sunset every gate of Maru was shut. The Asurs had the strongholds
in their power; but the plains resounded with the An[5.7.43] of Ajit.
Udaibhan, with his Jodhawats, appeared before Bhadrajun; he assaulted
the foe and captured his guns and treasure. An attempt from Jodhpur made
to recapture the trophies, added to the triumph of the Jodha.
=Abduction of the Asāni Girls.=—“Purdil Khan[5.7.44] held Siwana; and
Nahar Khan Mewati, Kunari. To attack them, the Champawats convened at
Mokalsar. Their thirst for vengeance redoubled at the tidings that Nur
Ali had abducted two young women of the tribe of Asani. Ratna led the
Rathors; they reached Kunari and engaged Purdil Khan, who was put to the
sword with six hundred of his men. The Rathors left one hundred in the
field that day, the ninth of Chait. The Mirza[5.7.45] no sooner heard of
this defeat than he fled towards Toda, with the Asani damsels, gazing on
the mangoes as they ripened, and having reached Kuchal, he encamped.
Subhal Singh, the son of Askaran, heard it; he took his opium, and
though the Mirza was surrounded by pillars, the dagger of Askaran’s son
reached his heart; but the Bhatti[5.7.46] was cut in pieces. The roads
were now impassable; the Thanas[5.7.47] of the Yavans were reduced to
great straits [72].
“The year 1742 commenced with the slaughter of the king’s garrison at
Sambhar by the Lakhawats and Asawats;[5.7.48] while from Godwar the
chiefs made incursions to the gates of Ajmer. A battle took place at
Merta, where the Rathors were defeated and dispersed; but in revenge
Sangram burned the suburbs of Jodhpur, and then came to Dunara, where
once more the clans assembled. They marched, invested Jalor, when
Bihari, left without succour, was compelled to capitulate, and the gate
of honour (_dharmadwara_) was left open to him. And thus ended 1742.”
-----
Footnote 5.7.1:
[Erskine (iii. A, 62) gives the story from local sources; also see
Elliot-Dowson vii. 297 f.]
Footnote 5.7.2:
A delicate mode of naming the female part of Jaswant’s family; the
‘royal abode’ included his young daughters, sent to inhabit heaven
(_swarga_).
Footnote 5.7.3:
Pluto.
Footnote 5.7.4:
‘The lord of the shell,’ an epithet of Siva, as the god of war; his
war-trump being a shell (_sankh_); his chaplet (_mala_), which the
Rathor bard says was incomplete until this fight, being of human
skulls. [Sankara, a title of Siva, means ‘causing happiness,’ and has
no connexion with _sankh_, ‘a shell.’]
Footnote 5.7.5:
Queen of the Apsaras, or celestial nymphs.
Footnote 5.7.6:
Pope makes Sarpedon say:
“The life that others pay, let us bestow,
And give to fame what we to nature owe.”
Footnote 5.7.7:
_I.e._ blood.
Footnote 5.7.8:
“The city of the moon.”
Footnote 5.7.9:
The lunar abode seems that allotted for all bards, who never mention
Bhanloka, or the ‘mansion of the sun,’ as a place of reward for them.
Doubtless they could assign a reason for such a distinction.
Footnote 5.7.10:
This is but a short transcript of the poetic account of this battle,
in which the deeds, name, and tribe of every warrior who fell are
related. The heroes of Thermopylae had not a more brilliant theme for
the bard. [Compare the more matter-of-fact accounts of Khāfi Khān,
Elliot-Dowson (vii. 296 f.), and of Manucci (ii. 233 f.).]
Footnote 5.7.11:
Here is another instance of the ancient patronymic being brought in by
the bards, and it is thus they preserve the names and deeds of the
worthies of past days. Rao Duhar was one of the earliest Rathor kings
of Marwar.
Footnote 5.7.12:
[According to Musalmān authorities, the name of the son of Amar Singh
was Indar Singh, not Ratan Singh (Jadunath Sarkar, _Life of
Aurangzib_, iii. 369).]
Footnote 5.7.13:
[In 1679 Khān Jahān arrived from Jodhpur, bringing several cartloads
of idols pillaged from Hindu temples. It was ordered that some should
be cast away into the out-offices, and the remainder to be placed
beneath the steps of the Great Mosque, there to be trampled under foot
(Elliot-Dowson vii. 187; Jadunath Sarkar iii. 323).]
Footnote 5.7.14:
Vol. I. p. 442.
Footnote 5.7.15:
It may be well to exhibit the manner in which the poetic annalist of
Rajputana narrates such events, and to give them in his own language
rather than in an epitome, by which not only the pith of the original
would be lost, but the events themselves deprived of half their
interest. The character of historic fidelity will thus be preserved
from suspicion, which could scarcely be withheld if the narrative were
exhibited in any but its native garb. This will also serve to sustain
the Annals of Marwar, formed from a combination of such materials, and
dispose the reader to acknowledge the impossibility of reducing such
animated chronicles to the severe style of history. But more than all,
it is with the design to prove what, in the preface of this work, the
reader was compelled to take on credit; that the Rajput kingdoms were
in no ages without such chronicles: and if we may not compare them
with Froissart, or with Monstrelet, they may be allowed to compete
with the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, and they certainly surpass those of
Ulster. But we have stronger motives than even legitimate curiosity,
in allowing the bard to tell his own tale of the thirty years’ war of
Rajputana; the desire which has animated this task from its
commencement, to give a correct idea of the importance of these
events, and to hold them up as a beacon to the present governors of
these brave men. How well that elegant historian, Orme, appreciates
their importance, as bearing on our own conduct in power, the reader
will perceive by reference to his _Fragments_ [ed. 1782, note i.],
where he says, “There are no states or powers on the continent of
India, with whom our nation has either connexion or concern, which do
not owe the origin of their present condition to the reign of
Aurangzebe, or to its influence on the reigns of his successors.” It
behoves us, therefore, to make ourselves acquainted with the causes as
well as the characters of those who occasioned the downfall of our
predecessors in the sovereignty of India. With this object in view,
the bard shall tell his own tale from the birth of Ajit, in S. 1737,
to 1767, when he had vanquished all opposition to Aurangzeb, and
regained the throne of Maru.
Footnote 5.7.16:
The cenotaph of these warriors still marks the spot where they fell,
on the right on entering the portals.
Footnote 5.7.17:
The heaps of grain thrashed in the open field, preparatory to being
divided and housed, are termed _khallas_.
Footnote 5.7.18:
Oath of allegiance.
Footnote 5.7.19:
The Mewar chronicle claims a victory for the combined Rajput army, and
relates a singular stratagem by which they gained it; but either I
have overlooked it, or the Raj Vilas does not specify that Prince
Bhim, son of the heroic Rana Raj, fell on this day, so glorious in the
annals of both States. See Vol. I. p. 448. [According to Manucci
(ii. 234) the Rāja “was obliged to cede to Aurangzeb a province and
the town of Mairtha.” According to another story, Aurangzeb offered
the succession to Ajīt Singh on condition that he was converted to
Islām. The Emperor kept a counterfeit Ajīt Singh in ward, and brought
him up as a Musalmān, called him Muhammadi Rāj, and on his death he
was buried as a Musalmān (Jadunath Sarkar iii. 374).]
Footnote 5.7.20:
On Akbar’s rebellion see Jadunath Sarkar iii. 402 ff.]
Footnote 5.7.21:
Krishna.
Footnote 5.7.22:
[Orme, _Fragments_, ed. 1782, 142 ff.; Khāfi Khān in Elliot-Dowson
vii. 298 ff.]
Footnote 5.7.23:
[The reading in the text is that of Dr. Tessitori. Major Luard’s
Pandit, questioning the Author’s translation, says that the words
_Band Murdharā ra rakhyo_ mean ‘governed Mārwār well,’ and that _bin
thāmbh ākās_, ‘the heavens without a prop,’ refers to the ruler who
was a minor.]
Footnote 5.7.24:
The Mewar chronicle says forty thousand.
Footnote 5.7.25:
[The hill tract about Siwāna, in S. Mewār.]
Footnote 5.7.26:
That is, dropped all schemes against it at that moment.
Footnote 5.7.27:
The Kamdhuj; epithet of the Rathors.
Footnote 5.7.28:
Charms and incantations, with music, are had recourse to, in order to
cause the flight of these destructive insects from the fields they
light on.
Footnote 5.7.29:
[The physician of the gods, born at the churning of the ocean.]
Footnote 5.7.30:
The number of towns and villages formerly constituting the
arrondissement of each State.
Footnote 5.7.31:
[Meru, the sacred mountain.]
Footnote 5.7.32:
_Mari_, or ‘death’ personified, is the name for that fearful scourge
the spasmodic cholera morbus, which has caused the loss of so many
lives for the last thirteen years throughout India. It appears to have
visited India often, of which we have given a frightful record in the
Annals of Mewar in the reign of Rana Raj Singh (see Vol. I. p.
454), in S. 1717 or A.D. 1661 (twenty years prior to the period
we treat of); and Orme [_Fragments_, ed. 1782, p. 200] describes it as
raging in the Deccan in A.D. 1684. They had likewise a visitation of
it within the memory of many individuals now living.
Regarding the nature of this disease, whether endemic, epidemic, or
contagious, and its cure, we are as ignorant now as the first day of
our experience. There have been hundreds of conflicting opinions and
hypotheses, but none satisfactory. In India, nine medical men out of
ten, as well as those not professional, deny its being contagious. At
Udaipur, the Rana’s only son, hermetically sealed in the palace
against contact, was the first seized with the disorder; a pretty
strong proof that it was from atmospheric communication. He was also
the last man in his father’s dominions likely, from predisposition, to
be attacked, being one of the most athletic and prudent of his
subjects. I saw him through the disorder. We were afraid to administer
remedies to the last heir of Bappa Rawal, but I hinted to Amarji, who
was both bard and doctor, that strong doses of musk (12 grs. each)
might be beneficial. These he had, and I prevented his having cold
water to drink, and also checking the insensible perspiration by
throwing off the bedclothes. Nothing but his robust frame and youth
made him resist this tremendous assailant.
Footnote 5.7.33:
[A command of 7000 troops.]
Footnote 5.7.34:
See Vol. I. p. 419, for an explanation of the _panja_—and the
treaty which preceded this, made by Rana Raj Singh, the fourth article
of which stipulates for terms to the minor son of Jaswant.
Footnote 5.7.35:
I know not what officer is meant by the Aremdi, sent to swear to the
good faith of the king.
Footnote 5.7.36:
His death was said to be effected by incantations, most probably
poison.]
Footnote 5.7.37:
Many were enumerated by the bardic chronicler, who would deem it
sacrilege to omit a single name in the page of fame.
Footnote 5.7.38:
[_Akhāra_, ‘a place of wrestling,’ rhyming with _nakkāra_, ‘a
kettle-drum.’]
Footnote 5.7.39:
[In Baroda State, about 63 miles N. of Ahmadābād.]
Footnote 5.7.40:
He was one of the gallant chiefs who, with Durga, conveyed prince
Akbar to the sanctuary with the Mahrattas.
Footnote 5.7.41:
We are not informed of what clan he was, or his rank, which must have
been high.
Footnote 5.7.42:
The tract so called, of which Siwana is the capital [in S. Mewār].
Footnote 5.7.43:
Oath of allegiance.
Footnote 5.7.44:
It is almost superfluous to remark, even to the mere English reader,
that whenever he meets the title Khan, it indicates a Muhammadan [and
a Pathān]; and that of Singh (lion) a Rajput.
Footnote 5.7.45:
Nur Ali. Mirza is a title only applied to a Mogul.
Footnote 5.7.46:
As a Bhatti revenged this disgrace, it is probable the Asani damsels,
thus abducted by the Mirza, were of his own race.
Footnote 5.7.47:
Garrisons and military posts.
Footnote 5.7.48:
These are of the most ancient vassalage of Maru.
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