=Ajīt Singh attacks Nāhan.=—“In 1768 Ajit was sent against Nahan[5.9.1]
and the chiefs of the snowy mountains, whom he reduced to obedience.
Thence he went to the Ganges, where he performed his ablutions, and in
the spring he returned to Jodhpur.
“In 1769 Shah Alam[5.9.2] went to heaven. The torch of discord was
lighted by his sons, with which they fired their own dwelling.
Azim-ush-shan was slain,[5.9.3] and the umbrella of royalty waved over
the head of Muizzu-d-din.[5.9.4] Ajit sent the Bhandari Kaimsi to the
presence, who returned with the sanad of the vice-royalty of Gujarat. In
the month of Margsir 1769, he prepared an army to take possession of the
_Sattra-sahas_,[5.9.5] when fresh dissensions broke out in the house of
the Chagatai. The Sayyids slew Muizzu-d-din, and Farrukhsiyar became
king.[5.9.6] Zulfikar Khan was [85] put to death,[5.9.7] and with him
departed the strength of the Moguls. Then the Sayyids became headstrong.
Ajit was commanded to send his son, Abhai Singh, now seventeen years of
age, with his contingent, to court; but Ajit having learned that the
traitor Mukund was there and in great favour, sent a trusty band, who
slew him even in the middle of Delhi. This daring act brought the Sayyid
with an army to Jodhpur.[5.9.8] Ajit sent off the men of wealth to
Siwanah, and his son and family to the desert of Rardarra.[5.9.9] The
capital was invested, and Abhai Singh demanded as a hostage for the
conduct of Ajit, who was also commanded to court. To neither was the
Raja inclined, but the advice of the Diwan and still more of Kesar the
bard, who gave as a precedent the instance of Rao Ganga when invaded by
the Lodi, Daulat Khan, who entrusted his affairs to his son Maldeo, was
unanimously approved.[5.9.10] Abhai Singh was recalled from Rardarra,
and marched with Husain Ali to Delhi, the end of Asarh 1770. The heir of
Maru received the mansab of five thousand from the king.
“Ajit followed his son to the court, then held at Delhi. There the sight
of the altars raised over the ashes of chiefs who had perished to
preserve him in his infancy, kindled all his wrath, and he meditated
revenge on the whole house of Timur. Four distinct causes for
displeasure had Ajmall:—
“1. The Nauroza.[5.9.11]
“2. The compulsory marriage of their daughters with the king.
“3. The killing of kine.
“4. The Jizya, or capitation tax.”[5.9.12]
=Ajit Singh marries his Daughter to Farrukhsīyar, A.D. 1716.=—Here we
must interrupt the narrative, in order to supply an important omission
of the bard, who slurs over the hardest of the conditions demanded of
Ajit on the invasion of the Sayyid, namely, the giving a daughter to
Farrukhsiyar, the important political results of which are already
related in the first part of this work.[5.9.13] This compulsory marriage
only aggravated Ajit’s desire of vengeance, and he entered into the
views of the Sayyids with the true spirit of his father; obtaining
meanwhile, as the price of coalition, the compliance with the specified
demands, besides others of less moment, such as “that the bell for
prayer should be allowed to toll in the [86] quarters of the city
allotted to the Rajputs, and that their temples should be held sacred;
and last, but not least, the aggrandisement of his hereditary
dominions.” Let us again recur to the chronicle.
“In Jeth 1771, having secured all his wishes, Ajit left the court, and
with the renewed patent as viceroy of Gujarat, returned to Jodhpur.
Through Kaimsi, his minister, the jizya was repealed. The Hindu race
owed eternal obligation to the Mor (crown) of Murdhar, the sanctuary of
princes in distress.
=Ajīt Singh, Viceroy of Gujarāt, A.D. 1715-16.=—“In 1772, Ajit prepared
to visit this government: Abhai Singh accompanied his father. He first
proceeded to Jalor, where he passed the rainy season. Thence he attacked
the Mewasa:[5.9.14] first Nimaj, which he took, when the Deoras paid him
tribute. Firoz Khan advanced from Palanpur to meet him. The Rao of
Tharad paid a lakh of rupees. Cambay was invested and paid; and the Koli
chief, Kemkaran, was reduced. From Patan, Sakta the Champawat, with Bija
Bhandari, sent the year preceding to manage the province, came forth to
meet him.
“In 1773, Ajit reduced the Jhala of Halwad, and Jam of Nawanagar, who
paid as tribute three lacs of rupees, with twenty-five choice
steeds;[5.9.15] and having settled the province, he worshipped at
Dwarka, and bathed in the Gomati.[5.9.16] Thence he returned to Jodhpur,
where he learned that Indar Singh had regained Nagor; but he stood not
before Ajit.
=Ajīt Singh visits Delhi.=—“The year 1774 had now arrived. The Sayyids
and their opponents were engaged in civil strife. Husain Ali was in the
Deccan, and the mind of Abdulla was alienated from the king. Paper on
paper came, inviting Ajit. He marched by Nagor, Merta, Pushkar, Marot,
and Sambhar, whose garrisons he strengthened, to Delhi. From Marot he
sent Abhai Singh back to take care of Jodhpur. The Sayyid advanced from
Delhi to meet the Dhani (lord) of Marwar, who alighted at Allahwirdi’s
sarai. Here the Sayyid and Ajit formed a league to oppose Jai Singh and
the Moguls, while the king remained like a snake coiled up in a closed
vessel. To get rid of their chief opponent, Zu-l-faqar Khan, was first
determined [87].
“When the king heard that Ajit had reached Delhi, he sent the Hara Rao
Bhim of Kotah, and Khandauran Khan to introduce him to the presence.
Ajit obeyed. Besides his own Rathors, he was accompanied by Rao Bishan
Singh of Jaisalmer, and Padam Singh of Derawar, with Fateh Singh, a
noble of Mewar, Man Singh, Rathor, chief of Sita Mhau, and the
Chandarawat, Gopal of Rampura, besides Udai Singh of Kandela, Sakat
Singh of Manoharpur, Kishan of Kalchipur, and many others.[5.9.17] The
meeting took place at the Moti Bagh. The king bestowed the mansab of
Haft Hazari (seven thousand horse) on Ajit, and added a crore of dams to
his rent-roll. He presented him with the insignia of the Mahi
Muratib,[5.9.18] with elephants and horses, a sword and dagger, a
diamond aigrette (_sarpech_) and plume, and a double string of pearls.
Having left the presence, Ajit went to visit Abdulla Khan. The Sayyid
advanced to meet him, and his reception, with his attendants, was
distinguished. They renewed their determination to stand or fall
together. Their conference caused dismay to the Moguls, who lay in
ambush to put Ajit to death.
“On the second day of the bright moon of Pus, 1775 [A.D. 1718], the king
honoured Ajit with a visit. Ajit seated the king on a throne formed of
bags of rupees to the amount of one lakh,[5.9.19] and presented
elephants, horses, and all that was precious. In the month of Phalgun,
Ajit and the Sayyid went to visit the king; and after the conference
wrote to Husain Ali revealing their plans, and desiring his rapid march
to unite with them from the Deccan. Now the heavens assumed portentous
appearances; the Disasul[5.9.20] was red and fiery; jackasses brayed
unusually; dogs barked; thunder rolled without a cloud; the court, late
so gay, was now sad and gloomy; all were forebodings of change at Delhi.
In twenty days, Husain reached Delhi; his countenance was terrific; his
drum, which now beat close to the palace, was the knell of falling
greatness. He was accompanied by myriads of horse. Delhi was enveloped
in the dust raised by his hostile steeds. They encamped in the north of
the city, and Husain joined Ajit and his brother. The trembling king
sent congratulations and gifts; the Mogul chiefs kept aloof in their
abodes; even as the quail cowers in the grass when the falcon hovers
over it, so did the Moguls when Husain reached Delhi.[5.9.21] The lord
of Amber was like a lamp left without oil [88].
=The Revolution at Delhi.=—“On the second day, all convened at Ajit’s
tents, on the banks of the Jumna, to execute the plans now determined
upon. Ajit mounted his steed; at the head of his Rathors he marched
direct to the palace, and at every post he placed his own men: he looked
like the fire destined to cause _pralaya_.[5.9.22] When the sun appears
darkness flies; when the oil fails the lamp goes out: so is it with
crowns and kings, when good faith and justice, the oil that feeds their
power, is wanting. The crash which shivered the umbrella of Delhi
reverberated throughout the land. The royal treasures were plundered.
None amidst the Moguls came forward to rescue their king (Farrukhsiyar),
and Jai Singh fled from the scene of destruction. Another king was set
up, but in four months he was seized with a distemper and died. Then
Daula[5.9.23] was placed on the throne. But the Moguls at Delhi set up
Neko Shah[5.9.24] at Agra, and Husain marched against them, leaving Ajit
and Abdulla with the king.[5.9.25]
=Muhammad Shah, Emperor, A.D. 1719-48.=—“In 1776, Ajit and the Sayyid
moved from Delhi; but the Moguls surrendered Neko Shah, who was confined
in Salimgarh. At this time the king died, and Ajit and the Sayyids made
another, and placed Muhammad Shah on the throne. Many countries were
destroyed, and many were made to flourish, during the dethronement of
kings by Ajit. With the death of Farrukhsiyar Jai Singh’s views were
crushed, and the Sayyids determined to punish him. The lord of Amber was
like water carried in a platter.[5.9.26] The king reached the Dargah at
Sikri, in progress to Amber, and here the chieftains sought the _saran_
(sanctuary) of Ajit. They said the Kurma[5.9.27] was lost if he
protected them not against the Sayyids. Even as Krishna saved Arjun in
the Bharat, so did Ajit take Jai Singh under his protection. He sent the
chiefs of the Champawats and his minister to dispel his fears; they
returned with the lord of Amber, who felt like one who had escaped the
doom (_pralaya_). Ajit placed one monarch on the throne, and saved
another from destruction. The king bestowed upon him the grant of
Ahmadabad, and gave him permission to visit his home. With Jai Singh of
Amber, and Budh Singh Hara of Bundi, he marched for Jodhpur, and in the
way contracted a marriage with the daughter of the Shaikhavat [89] chief
of Manoharpur. In the month of Asin he reached Jodhagir, when the lord
of Amber encamped at Sur Sagar, and the Hara Rao north of the town.
=Ajīt Singh marries his Daughter to Jai Singh.=—“The cold season had
fled; the spring (_basant)_ approached. The peacock was intoxicated with
the nectar-drops distilled from the sweet-blossomed _amba_ (mango); the
rich sap exuded; the humming-bees clustered round the flowers; new
leaves budded forth; songs of joy resounded; the hearts of gods, men,
and women expanded with mirth. It was then the lord of Amber was
bedecked in saffron robes, to espouse the ‘virgin of the sun’ (Surya
Kumari), the child of Ajit. On this he had consulted the Champawats, and
according to ancient usage, the Ad-Pardhan, or chief minister, the
Kumpawat: likewise the Bhandari Diwan, and the Guru. But were I to dwell
on these festivities, this book would become too large; I therefore say
but little!
=The Assassination of the Sayyids. Ajīt Singh asserts his
Independence.=—“The rains of 1777 set in, and Jai Singh and Budh Singh
remained with Ajit, when a messenger arrived with tidings that the
Moguls had assassinated the Sayyids, and were now on the watch for
Ajit.[5.9.28] He drew his sword, and swore he would possess himself of
Ajmer. He dismissed the lord of Amber. In twelve days after Ajit reached
Merta. In the face of day he drove the Muslim from Ajmer and made it his
own. He slew the king’s governor and seized on Taragarh.[5.9.29] Once
more the bell of prayers was heard in the temple, while the
_bang_[5.9.30] of the Masjid was silent. Where the Koran was read, the
Puran was now heard, and the Mandir took the place of the Mosque. The
Kazi made way for the Brahman, and the pit of burnt sacrifice (_homa_)
was dug, where the sacred kine were slain. He took possession of the
salt lakes of Sambhar and Didwana, and the records were always moist
with inserting fresh conquests. Ajit ascended his own throne; the
umbrella of supremacy he waved over his head. He coined in his own name,
established his own _gaz_ (measure), and _ser_ (weight), his own courts
of justice, and a new scale of rank for his chiefs, with nalkis and
mace-bearers, naubats and standards, and every emblem of sovereign rule.
Ajmall in Ajmer was equal to Aspati in Delhi.[5.9.31] The intelligence
spread over the land; it reached even Mecca [90] and Iran, that Ajit had
exalted his own faith, while the rites of Islam were prohibited
throughout the land of Maru.
=Imperialist Attack on Ajmer.=—“In 1778 the king determined to regain
Ajmer. He gave the command to Muzaffar, who in the rains advanced
towards Marwar. Ajit entrusted the conduct of this war to his son, the
‘shield of Maru,’ the ‘fearless’ (Abhai), with the eight great vassals,
and thirty thousand horse; the Champawats on the right, the Kumpawats on
the left, while the Karamsots, Mertias, Jodhas, Indhas, Bhattis,
Sonigiras, Deoras, Khichis, Dhondals and Gogawats,[5.9.32] composed the
main body. At Amber, the Rathors and imperialists came in sight; but
Muzaffar disgraced himself, and retired within that city without risking
an encounter. Abhai Singh, exasperated at this display of pusillanimous
bravado, determined to punish the king. He attacked Shahjahanpur, sacked
Narnol, levied contributions on Patan (Tuarvati) and Rewari.[5.9.33] He
gave the villages to the flames, and spread conflagration and
consternation even to Allahwirdi’s Sarai. Delhi and Agra trembled with
affright; the Asurs fled without their shoes at the deeds of Abhai, whom
they styled Dhonkal, ‘the exterminator.’ He returned by Sambhar and
Ludhana, and here he married the daughter of the chief of the
Narukas.[5.9.34]
=Muhammad Shah attacks Ajīt Singh.=—“In 1779, Abhai Singh remained at
Sambhar, which he strengthened, and hither his father Ajit came from
Ajmer. The meeting was like that between ‘Kasyapa and Surya’;[5.9.35]
for he had broken the bow of Muzaffar and made the Hindu happy. The king
sent his Chela, Nahar Khan, to expostulate with Ajit; but his language
was offensive, and the field of Sambhar devoured the tiger lord (Nahar
Khan) and his four thousand followers. The son of Churaman the
Jat[5.9.36] now claimed sanctuary with Ajit. Sick of these dissensions,
the unhappy Muhammad Shah determined to abandon his crown and retire to
Mecca. But, determined to revenge the death of Nahar Khan, he prepared a
formidable army. He collected [the contingents of] the twenty-two
Satraps[5.9.37] of the empire, and placed at their head Jai Singh of
Amber, Haidar Kuli, Iradat Khan Bangash, etc. In the month of Sawan
(July), Taragarh was invested; Abhai Singh marched out and left its
defence to [91] Amra Singh. It had held out four months, when through
the prince of Amber (Jai Singh), Ajit listened to terms, which were
sworn to on the Koran by the nobles of the king; and he agreed to
surrender Ajmer.[5.9.38] Abhai Singh then accompanied Jai Singh to the
camp. It was proposed that in testimony of his obedience he should
repair to the presence. The prince of Amber pledged himself; but the
Fearless (Abhai) placed his hand on his sword, saying, ‘This is my
surety!’”
=Ajīt Singh’s Heir received at the Imperial Court.=—The heir of Marwar
was received by the king with the utmost honour; but being possessed of
a double portion of that arrogance which forms the chief characteristic
of his race (more especially of the Rathor and Chauhan, from which he
sprang), his reception nearly produced at Delhi a repetition of the
scene recorded in the history of his ancestor Amra at Agra. Knowing that
his father held the first place on the king’s right hand, he considered
himself, as his representative, entitled to the same honour; and little
heeding the unbending etiquette of the proudest court in the world, he
unceremoniously hustled past all the dignitaries of the State, and had
even ascended a step of the throne, when, checked by one of the nobles,
Abhai’s hand was on his dagger, and but for the presence of mind of the
monarch, “who threw his own chaplet round his neck” to restrain him, the
Divan would have been deluged with blood.
=The Murder of Ajīt Singh, A.D. 1724.=—We shall now drop the chronicles,
and in recording the murder of Ajit, the foulest crime in the annals of
Rajasthan, exemplify the mode in which their poetic historians gloss
over such events. It was against Ajit’s will that his son went to court,
as if he had a presentiment of the fate which awaited him, and which has
been already circumstantially related.[5.9.39] The authors from whose
records this narrative is chiefly compiled, were too polite to suffer
such a stigma to appear in their chronicles, “written by desire” and
under the eye of the parricide, Ajit’s successor. The Surya Prakas
merely says, “at this time Ajit went to heaven”; but affords no
indication of the person who sent him there. The Raj Rupaka, however,
not bold enough to avow the mysterious death of his prince, yet too
honest altogether to pass it over, has left an expressive blank leaf at
this part of his chronicle, certainly not accidental, as it intervenes
between Abhai Singh’s reception at court, and the incidents following
his father’s death, which I translate verbatim, as they present an
excellent picture of the results of a Rajput potentate’s demise [92].
“Abhai, a second Ajit, was introduced to the Aspati; his father heard
the news and rejoiced. But this world is a fable—a lie. Time will sooner
or later prey on all things. What king, what raja can avoid the path
leading to extinction? The time allotted for our sojourn here is
predetermined; prolong it we cannot. The decree penned by the hand of
the Creator is engraven upon each forehead at the hour of birth. Neither
addition nor subtraction can be made. Fate (honhar) must be fulfilled.
It was the command of Govinda[5.9.40] that Ajit (the Avatar of Indra)
should obtain immortality, and leave his renown in the world beneath.
Ajit, so long a thorn in the side of his foe, was removed to
Parloka.[5.9.41] He kept afloat the faith of the Hindu, and sunk the
Muslim in shame. In the face of day, the lord of Maru took the road
which leads to Paradise (_Vaikuntha_). Then dismay seized the city; each
looked with dread in his neighbour’s face as he said, ‘Our sun has set!’
But when the day of Yamaraj[5.9.42] arrives, who can retard it? Were not
the five Pandus enclosed in the mansion of Himala?[5.9.43] Harchand
escaped not the universal decree; nor will gods, men, or reptiles avoid
it, not even Vikrama or Kama; all fall before Yama. How then could Ajit
hope to escape?
“On Asarh, the 13th, the dark half of the moon of 1780, seventeen
hundred warriors of the eight ranks of Maru, for the last time marched
before their lord.[5.9.44] They placed his body in a boat,[5.9.45] and
carried him to the pyre,[5.9.46] made of sandal-wood and perfumes, with
heaps of cotton, oil, and camphor. But this is a subject of grief: how
can the bard enlarge on such a theme? The Nazir went to the
Rawala[5.9.47] and as he pronounced the words ‘Rao siddhi āyē,’ the
Chauhani queen, with sixteen damsels in her suite, came forth: ‘This
day,’ said she, ‘is one of joy; my race shall be illustrated; our lives
have passed together, how then can I leave him?’[5.9.48]
=The Sati.=—“Of noble race was the Bhattiani queen, a scion (_sakha_) of
Jaisal, and daughter of Birjang. She put up a prayer to the Lord who
wields the discus.[5.9.49] ‘With joy [93] I accompany my lord; that my
fealty (_sati_) may be accepted, rests with thee.’ In like manner did
the Gazelle (Mrigavati) of Derawal,[5.9.50] and the Tuar queen of pure
blood,[5.9.51] the Chawara Rani,[5.9.52] and her of Shaikhavati, invoke
the name of Hari, as they determined to join their lord. For these six
queens death had no terrors; but they were the affianced wives of their
lord: the curtain wives of affection, to the number of fifty-eight,
determined to offer themselves a sacrifice to Agni.[5.9.53] ‘Such
another opportunity,’ said they, ‘can never occur, if we survive our
lord; disease will seize and make us a prey in our apartments. Why then
quit the society of our lord, when at all events we must fall into the
hands of Yama, for whom the human race is but a mouthful? Let us leave
the iron age (_Kaliyuga_) behind us.’ ‘Without our lord, even life is
death,’ said the Bhattiani, as she bound the beads of Tulsi[5.9.54]
round her neck, and made the _tilak_ with earth from the Ganges. While
thus each spoke, Nathu, the Nazir,[5.9.55] thus addressed them: ‘This is
no amusement; the sandal-wood you now anoint with is cool: but will your
resolution abide, when you remove it with the flames of Agni? When this
scorches your tender frames, your hearts may fail, and the desire to
recede will disgrace your lord’s memory. Reflect, and remain where you
are. You have lived like Indrani,[5.9.56] nursed in softness amidst
flowers and perfumes; the winds of heaven never offended you, far less
the flames of fire.’ But to all his arguments they replied: ‘The world
we will abandon, but never our lord.’ They performed their ablutions,
decked themselves in their gayest attire, and for the last time made
obeisance to their lord in his car. The ministers, the bards, the family
priests (_Purohits_), in turn, expostulated with them. The chief queen
(_Patrani_) the Chauhani, they told to indulge her affection for her
sons, Abhai and Bakhta; to feed the poor, the needy, the holy, and lead
a life of religious devotion. The queen replied: ‘Kunti, the wife of
Pandu, did not follow her lord; she lived to see the greatness of the
five brothers, her sons; but were her expectations realized?[5.9.57]
This life is a vain shadow; this dwelling one of sorrow; let us
accompany our lord to that of fire, and there close it.’
“The drum sounded; the funeral train moved on; all invoked the name of
[94] Hari.[5.9.58] Charity was dispensed like falling rain, while the
countenances of the queens were radiant as the sun. From heaven
Uma[5.9.59] looked down; in recompense of such devotion she promised
they should enjoy the society of Ajit in each successive transmigration.
As the smoke, emitted from the house of flame, ascended to the sky, the
assembled multitudes shouted Kaman! Kaman! ‘Well done! Well done!’ The
pile flamed like a volcano; the faithful queens laved their bodies in
the flames, as do the celestials in the lake of Manasarovar.[5.9.60]
They sacrificed their bodies to their lord, and illustrated the races
whence they sprung. The gods above exclaimed, ‘Dhan Dhan[5.9.61] Ajit!
who maintained the faith, and overwhelmed the Asuras.’ Savitri, Gauri,
Sarasvati, Ganga, and Gomati[5.9.62] united in doing honour to these
faithful queens. Forty-five years, three months, and twenty-two days,
was the space of Ajit’s existence, when he went to inhabit Amarapura, an
immortal abode!”
=Character of Ajīt Singh.=—Thus closed the career of one of the most
distinguished princes who ever pressed the ‘cushion’ of Maru; a career
as full of incident as any life of equal duration. Born amidst the snows
of Kabul, deprived at his birth of both parents, one from grief, the
other by suicidal custom; saved from the Herodian cruelty of the king by
the heroism of his chiefs, nursed amidst the rocks of Abu or the
intricacies of the Aravalli until the day of danger passed, he issued
forth, still an infant, at the head of his brave clans, to redeem the
inheritance so iniquitously wrested from him. In the history of mankind
there is nothing to be found presenting a more brilliant picture of
fidelity than that afforded by the Rathor clans in their devotion to
their prince, from his birth until he worked out his own and his
country’s deliverance. It is one of those events which throw a gleam of
splendour upon the dark picture of feudalism, more prolific perhaps in
crime than in virtue. That of the Rajputs, indeed, in which
consanguinity is superadded to the other reciprocal [95] ties which bind
a feudal body, wears the more engaging aspect of a vast family. How
affecting is the simple language of these brave men, while daily
shedding their blood for a prince whom, until he had attained his
seventh year, they had never beheld! “Without the sight of our lord,
bread and water have no flavour.” And how successfully does the bard
portray the joy of these stern warriors, when he says, “As the lotus
expands at the sunbeam, so did the heart of each Rathor at the sight of
their infant sovereign; they drank his looks even as the _papiha_ in the
month of Asoj sips the drops of _amrita_ (ambrosia) from the _Champa_.”
The prodigality with which every clan lavished its blood, through a
space of six-and-twenty years, may in part be learned from the
chronicle; and in yet more forcible language from the cenotaphs
scattered over the country, erected to the manes of those who fell in
this religious warfare. Were other testimony required, it is to be found
in the annals of their neighbours and their conquerors; while the
traditional couplets of the bards, familiar to every Rajput, embalm the
memory of the exploits of their forefathers.
Ajit was a prince of great vigour of mind as well as of frame. Valour
was his inheritance; he displayed this hereditary quality at the early
age of eleven, when he visited his enemy in his capital, displaying a
courtesy which can only be comprehended by a Rajput. Amongst the
numerous desultory actions, of which many occurred every year, there
were several in which the whole strength of the Rathors was led by their
prince. The battle of Sambhar, in S. 1765, fought against the Sayyids,
which ended in a union of interests, was one of these; and, for the rest
of Ajit’s life, kept him in close contact with the court, where he might
have taken the lead had his talent for intrigue been commensurate with
his boldness. From this period until his death, Ajit’s agency was
recognized in all the intrigues and changes amongst the occupants of
Timur’s throne, from Farrukhsiyar to Muhammad. He inherited an
invincible hatred to the very name of Muslim, and was not scrupulous
regarding the means by which he was likely to secure the extirpation of
a race so inimical to his own. Viewing the manifold reasons for this
hatred, we must not scrutinize with severity his actions when leagued
with the Sayyids, even in the dreadful catastrophe which overwhelmed
Farrukhsiyar, to whom he owed the twofold duty of fealty and
consanguinity.
=His Conduct to Durgadās.=—There is one stain on the memory of Ajit
which, though unnoticed in the chronicle [96], is too well ascertained
to be omitted in a summary of his character, more especially as it
illustrates that of the nation and of the times, and shows the loose
system which holds such governments together. The heroic Durgadas, the
preserver of his infancy, the instructor of his youth, the guide of his
manhood, lived to confirm the proverb, “Put not thy faith in princes.”
He, who, by repeated instances of exalted self-denial, had refused
wealth and honours that might have raised himself from his vassal
condition to an equality with his sovereign, was banished from the land
which his integrity, wisdom, and valour had preserved. Why, or when,
Ajit loaded himself with this indelible infamy was not known; the fact
was incidentally discovered in searching a collection of original
newspapers written from the camp of Bahadur Shah,[5.9.63] in one of
which it was stated, that “Durgadas was encamped with his household
retainers on the banks of the Pichola Lake at Udaipur, and receiving
daily five hundred rupees for his support from the Rana; who when called
on by the king (Bahadur Shah) to surrender him, magnanimously refused.”
Imagining that Ajit had been compelled to this painful sacrifice, which
is not noticed in the annals, the compiler mentioned it to a Yati deeply
versed in all the events and transactions of this State. Aware of the
circumstance, which is not overlooked by the bards, he immediately
repeated the couplet composed on the occasion—
_Durgo desām kādhiyo
Golām Gāmgāni!_
Durga was exiled, and Gamgani given to a slave.[5.9.64]
Gamgani, on the north bank of the Luni, was the chief town of the
Karanot fief, of which clan Durga was the head. It is now attached to
the Khalisa, or fisc, but whether recently, or ever since Durga, we know
not. The Karanots still pay the last rites to their dead at Gamgani,
where they have their cenotaphs (_chhatris_). Whether that of the noble
Durga stands there to serve as a memorial of princely ingratitude, the
writer cannot say; a portrait of the hero, in the autumn of his days,
was given to him by the last lineal descendant of Ajit, as the reader is
already aware.[5.9.65] Well may we repeat, that the system of feudality
is the parent of the most brilliant virtues and the darkest crimes.
Here, a long life of uninterrupted fidelity could not preserve Durga
from the envenomed breath of slander, or the serpent-tooth [97] of
ingratitude: and whilst the mind revolts at the crime which left a blank
leaf in the chronicle, it is involuntarily carried back to an act less
atrocious, indeed, than one which violates the laws of nature, but which
in diminishing none of our horror for Abhai Singh, yet lessens our
sympathy for the persecutor of Durgadas.
-----
Footnote 5.9.1:
[Now known as Sirmūr, a Hill State in the Panjāb, on the W. bank of
the Jumna, and E. of Simla (_IGI_, xxiii. 3).]
Footnote 5.9.2:
[Kutbu-d-dīn Shāh ‘Alam, Bahādur Shah I., died at Lahore, February 17,
1712.]
Footnote 5.9.3:
[Azīmu-sh-shān was drowned in the river Rāvi, after the battle between
Jahāndār Shāh and his other brothers, in February 1712.]
Footnote 5.9.4:
[Muizzu-d-dīn Jahāndār Shāh, crowned Emperor at Lahore, April 10,
1712, was murdered in 1713, and was buried at Humāyūn’s tomb, Delhi.]
Footnote 5.9.5:
The “seventeen thousand” towns of Gujarat.
Footnote 5.9.6:
[On January 9, 1713.]
Footnote 5.9.7:
[Zulfikār Khān, Nasrat Jang, was strangled in January 1713.]
Footnote 5.9.8:
[The chronicler is reticent about this campaign which was carried out
by Husain Ali Khān and the emperor’s maternal uncle Shāista Khān. It
was caused by the expulsion of Mughals from Mārwār by Ajīt Singh
(Khāfi Khān in Elliot-Dowson vii. 446 f.).]
Footnote 5.9.9:
The tract west of the Luni.
Footnote 5.9.10:
They slur over the most important demand—a daughter to wife to the
king—it is at this Ajit hesitates, and for which the precedent is
given.
Footnote 5.9.11:
See Vol. I. p. 400.
Footnote 5.9.12:
Described Vol. I. p. 441.
Footnote 5.9.13:
Vol. I. p. 468.
Footnote 5.9.14:
Mewasa is a term given to the fastnesses in the mountains, which the
aboriginal tribes, Kolis, Minas, and Mers, and not unfrequently the
Rajputs, make their retreats; and in the present instance the bard
alludes to the Mewasa of the Deoras of Sirohi and Abu, which has
annoyed the descendants of Ajit to this hour, and has served to
maintain the independence of this Chauhan tribe.
Footnote 5.9.15:
[Tharād in Pālanpur Agency, Bombay (_IGI_, xix. 346); Halwad in
Kāthiāwār (_ibid._ viii. 13); Nawanagar in Kāthiāwar, the ruler, known
as the Jām (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 447), being a Jādeja Rājput (_IGI_,
xviii. 419 ff.).]
Footnote 5.9.16:
This is all in the district of Okha (Okhamandala), where the Vadhels
fixed themselves on the migration of Siahji from Kanauj. It would have
been instructive had the bard deigned to have given us any account of
the recognition which this visit occasioned, and which beyond a doubt
caused the “books of Chronicles and Kings” to be opened and referred
to.
Footnote 5.9.17:
This list well exemplifies the tone now assumed by the Rathors; but
this grand feudal assemblage was in virtue of his office of viceroy of
Gujarat. Each and all of these chieftainships the author is as
familiar with as with the pen he now holds.
Footnote 5.9.18:
[The fish symbol, for which see Sleeman, _Rambles_, 137 f. James
Skinner, who recovered Mahādāji Sindhia’s order in a fight with the
Rājputs, speaks of it as “a brass fish with two chources (_chaunri_,
horse-hair or yak tails) hanging to it like mustachios” (Irvine, _Army
of the Indian Moghuls_, 33).]
Footnote 5.9.19:
£10,000 to £12,000.
Footnote 5.9.20:
Omen of the quarter.
Footnote 5.9.21:
[For an account of these transactions see Keene, _Sketch of the
History of Hindustan_, 287 ff.]
Footnote 5.9.22:
The final doom.
Footnote 5.9.23:
[Farrukhsīyar was murdered in prison, and two sickly youths were
placed in succession on the throne by the Sayyids—Rafiu-d-darajāt and
Rafiu-d-daula—the first of whom died on May 31, the second on
September 6, 1719.]
Footnote 5.9.24:
[Nekosīyar, son of Muhammad Akbar, youngest son of Aurangzeb, who was
defeated and taken prisoner by the Sayyids (Keene, _op. cit._ 299).]
Footnote 5.9.25:
This is both minutely and faithfully related, and fully as much so as
the Muhammadan record of this black deed. We have already (Vol. I. p.
475) described it, and given a translation of an autograph letter
of the prince of Amber, written on this memorable day. The importance
of the transaction, as well as the desire to show the Bardic version,
will justify its repetition.
Footnote 5.9.26:
In allusion to his vacillation, for which the Mirza Rāja was
notorious.
Footnote 5.9.27:
[That is to say, the Kachhwāha Rāja.]
Footnote 5.9.28:
[For this revolution see Elliot-Dowson vii. 474 ff.]
Footnote 5.9.29:
The _Star Fort_, the castle of Ajmer.
Footnote 5.9.30:
The call to prayer of the Muslim.
Footnote 5.9.31:
This exact imitation of the manners of the imperial court is still
strictly maintained at Jodhpur. The account of the measures which
followed the possession of Ajmer is taken from the chronicle Surya
Prakas; the only part not entirely translated from the Raj Rupak
Akhyat. Ajmall is a licence of the poet, where it suits his rhyme, for
Ajit. Aspati, ‘lord of steeds,’ is the common epithet applied to the
emperors of Delhi. It is, however, but the second degree of paramount
power—Gajpati, ‘lord of elephants,’ is the first.
Footnote 5.9.32:
The two latter tribes are amongst the most ancient of the allodial
chieftains of the desert: the Dhondals being descendants of Rao Gango;
the Gogawats, of the famous Goga [or Gūga] the Chauhan, who defended
the Sutlej in the earliest Muslim invasion recorded. Both Goga and his
steed Jawadia are immortal in Rajasthan. The Author had a chestnut
Kathiawar, called Jawadia; he was perfection, and a piece of living
fire when mounted, scorning every pace but the antelope’s bounds and
curvets.
Footnote 5.9.33:
[Pātan in Jaipur State; Narnol in Patiāla; Rewāri in Gurgaon District,
Panjāb.]
Footnote 5.9.34:
One of the great clans of Amber; of whom more hereafter.
Footnote 5.9.35:
[The tortoise (Kachhwāha) and the sun (the sun-born tribes).]
Footnote 5.9.36:
Founder of the Bharatpur State.
Footnote 5.9.37:
The Bāīsa, or ‘twenty-two’ viceroys of India.
Footnote 5.9.38:
[This was in 1723. The chronicler disguises the defeat of Ajīt Singh.]
Footnote 5.9.39:
See p. 857.
Footnote 5.9.40:
The sovereign judge of mankind [Krishna].
Footnote 5.9.41:
‘The other world’; lit. ‘another place.’
Footnote 5.9.42:
‘Lord of hell.’
Footnote 5.9.43:
_Hima_, ‘ice,’ and _ālaya_, ‘an abode.’
Footnote 5.9.44:
Both head and feet are uncovered in funeral processions.
Footnote 5.9.45:
_Id est_, a vehicle formed like a boat, perhaps figurative of the sail
crossing the Vaitarani, or Styx of the Hindu.
Footnote 5.9.46:
For the mode of conveying princes to their final abode, I refer the
reader to a description at vol. i. p. 152, _Trans. Royal Asiatic
Society_.
Footnote 5.9.47:
The queen’s palace.
Footnote 5.9.48:
This is the lady whom Ajit married in his non-age, the mother of the
parricide.
Footnote 5.9.49:
Krishna [Chakrāyudha, Krishna, or Vishnu].
Footnote 5.9.50:
Ancient capital of the Bhattis.
Footnote 5.9.51:
Descended from the ancient dynasty of the Hindu kings of Delhi.
Footnote 5.9.52:
Tribe of the first dynasty of Anhilwara Patan.
Footnote 5.9.53:
The fire.
Footnote 5.9.54:
[The sacred basil, _Ocymum sanctum_.]
Footnote 5.9.55:
The Nazir (a Muslim epithet) has the charge of the harem.
Footnote 5.9.56:
The queen of heaven.
Footnote 5.9.57:
[Kunti escaped the fire and protected the children of Mādri, the other
wife of Pāndu, who was burnt with him.]
Footnote 5.9.58:
Hari Krishna is the mediator and preserver of the Hindu Triad; his
name alone is invoked in funeral rites (see p. 621). The following
extract from Dr. Wilkins’ translation of the _Gīta_ will best disclose
his attributes:—Krishna speaks: “I am the journey of the good; the
comforter; the creator; the witness; the resting-place; the asylum;
and the friend. I am generation and dissolution; the place where all
things are deposited, and the inexhaustible soul of all nature. I am
death and immortality; I am never-failing time; the preserver, whose
face is turned on all sides. I am all grasping death; and I am the
resurrection of those who are about to die.”
Footnote 5.9.59:
A name of Durga, the Hindu Juno.
Footnote 5.9.60:
The sacred lake in Tibet. [See C. A. Sherring, _Western Tibet and the
British Borderlands_, 259 ff.]
Footnote 5.9.61:
_Dhan_ is ‘riches,’ but is here used in the sense of glory; so that
riches and glory are synonymous in term with the Hindu, as in practice
in the west; the one may always command the other, at least that
species of it for which nine-tenths of mankind contend, and are
satisfied with obtaining.
Footnote 5.9.62:
Celestial queens.
Footnote 5.9.63:
Discovered by the author amongst the Rana’s archives.
Footnote 5.9.64:
[Dr. Tessitori writes that the correct version is:
“_Mahārāja Ajmāl ri
Jad parkha jāni.
Durgo Saphara dāgajē,
Golām Gāmgāni._”
“The mind of Mahārāja Ajīt Singh then became known (when he saw)
Durgadās burned on the banks of the Sipra River and Gāmgāni bestowed
on slaves.” According to tradition, the exiled Durgadās died at
Ujjain, near which the Sipra flows.]
Footnote 5.9.65:
Vol. I. p. 451.
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