A pahar is one-fourth of the day.
Footnote 7.1.30:
For a description of this rite see Vol. I. pp. 85, 309.
Footnote 7.1.31:
In conformity with the Hindu ordinances of _matam_, or mourning.
Footnote 7.1.32:
Here is another circumstantial date, S. 72, or A.D. 16, for the
foundation of Salbahana in the Panjab, by the fugitive Yadu prince
from Gajni. Of its exact position we have no means of judging, but it
could not have been remote from Lahore. It may be deemed a fortunate
coincidence that I should discover that ancient inscription (p. 914)
of this capital, styled Salpur, governed by a Gete or Jat in the
fourth century; which suggested the idea (which many facts tend to
prove), whether these Yadus (whose illegitimate issue, as will appear
in the sequel, are called Jats) may not be the Yuti or Getes from
Central Asia. The coincidence of the date of Salbahan-Yadu with that
of the Saka Salivahan, the Tak, will not fail to strike the inquirer
into Hindu antiquities: and it is not the least curious circumstance,
that these Yadus, or Yuti, displaced the Takshak, or Tak, from this
region, as will appear immediately. In further corroboration, see
notes 2 and 4, p. 916 f., and Inscriptions II. p. 917 and VI. p. 925.]
Footnote 7.1.33:
At every page of these annals, it is evident that they have been
transcribed by some ignoramus, who has jumbled together events of
ancient and modern date. The prince of Delhi might have been Jaipal,
but if we are to place any faith in the chronology of the Tuar race,
no prince of this family could be synchronous with the Yadu Salbahan.
I am inclined to think that the emigration of Salbahan’s ancestors
from Gajni was at a much later period than S. 72, as I shall note as
we proceed. [As will be seen later on, the whole story swarms with
anachronisms.]
Footnote 7.1.34:
Turk is the term in the dialects which the Hindus apply to the races
from central Asia, the Turushka of the Puranas.
Footnote 7.1.35:
Doubtless the ancestor of the Johya race, termed the Janjuha by Babur,
and who dwelt with the Juds in the hills of Jud, the Jadu-ka-dang of
the Bhatti MSS.
Footnote 7.1.36:
However curious this assertion, of the Chagatais being descended from
the Yadus, it ought not to surprise us: I repeat, that all these
tribes, whether termed Indo-Scythic or Tatar, prior to Islamism
professed a faith which may be termed Hinduism.
Footnote 7.1.37:
As it is evident the period has reference to the very first years of
Islamism, and it is stated that the sons of Gaj were to be proselytes,
it is by no means improbable that this is Jaipal, the infidel prince
of Khwarizm.—See Price’s _Mahomedan History_.
Footnote 7.1.38:
This is a most important admission of the proselytism of the ancient
Indo-Scythic Yadu princes to the faith of Islam, though there can be
no reasonable doubt of it. Temugin, better known by his _nomme de
guerre_, Jangiz, the father of Chagatai, according to the Muhammadan
historians, is termed an infidel, and so was Takash, the father of
Muhammad of Khwarizm: the one was of the Getic or Yuti race; the
other, as his name discloses, of the Tak or Takshak, the two grand
races of Central Asia. The insertion of this pedigree in this place
completely vitiates chronology; yet for what purpose it could have
been interpolated, if not founded on some fact, we cannot surmise.
Footnote 7.1.39:
We can, by means of the valuable translation of the Commentaries of
Babur, trace many of these tribes.
Footnote 7.1.40:
It has already been stated that the fifteen brothers of Baland
established themselves in the mountainous parts of the Panjab, and
that his sons inherited those west of the Indus, or Daman. The Afghan
tribes, whose supposed genealogy from the Jews has excited so much
curiosity, and who now inhabit the regions conquered by the sons of
Salbahan, are possibly Yadus, who, on conversion, to give more éclat
to their antiquity, converted Yadu into Yahudi or Jew, and added the
rest of the story from the Koran. That grand division of Afghans
called the Yusufzai, or ‘Sons of Joseph,’ whose original country was
Kabul and Ghazni, yet retain the name of Jadon (vulgar of Yadu) as one
of their principal subdivisions; and they still occupy a position in
the hilly region east of the Indus, conquered by the sons of Baland.
It would be a curious fact could we prove the Afghans not Yahudis but
Yadus [?].
Footnote 7.1.41:
Doubtless the junction of Janj with that of Johya, another numerous
tribe, formed the Janjuha of Babur; the Johyas of the Bhatti annals,
now known only by name, but whose history forms a volume. The sons of
Janj have left numerous traces—Janjian on the Gara; Jinjiniali in the
desert, etc.
Footnote 7.1.42:
Even the mention of an animal unknown in the desert of India evinces
the ancient source whence these annals are compiled. Had the Yadu
colony at this period obtained a footing in the desert, south of the
Sutlej, the computation would have been by camel-loads, not by mules.
Footnote 7.1.43:
See Vol. I. p. 315, for an account of this military foray.
Footnote 7.1.44:
This would almost imply that Lahore and Salbahana were one and the
same place, but from what follows, the intervening distance could not
have been great between the two cities. There is a Sangala, south of
Lahore, near the altars of Alexander, and a Sialkot in our modern
maps. Salbahana, Salbahanpur, or simply Salpura, may have been erected
on the ruins of Kampilanagari. We may hope that researches in that yet
untouched region, the Panjab, will afford much to the elucidation of
ancient history. [Sālbahanpur is usually identified with Siālkot
(Cunningham, _ASR_, ii. 21).]
Footnote 7.1.45:
The Lakhi Jungle is well known in India for its once celebrated breed
of horses, extinct within the last twenty years.
Footnote 7.1.46:
[They take their name from the old town of Abohar in the Firozpur
District, Panjāb (_IGI_, v. 2). Compare the local legend with that
from Hissār (Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 103 f.).]
Footnote 7.1.47:
Thus it is that the most extensive agricultural races spread all over
India, called Jāts or Jats, have a tradition that they are descended
from the Yadu race (_qu._ Yuti?), and that their original country is
Kandahar. Such was stated to me as the origin of the Jats of Bayana
and Bharatpur. Why the descendants of Saran assumed the name of Jats
is not stated.
Footnote 7.1.48:
This incidental mention of the race of Tak, and of its being in great
consideration on the settlement of the Yadus in the Panjab, is very
important. I have given a sketch of this tribe (Vol. I. p. 123),
but since I wrote it I have discovered the capital of the Tak, and on
the very spot where I should have expected the site of Taxila, the
capital of Taxiles, the friend of Alexander. In that sketch I
hesitated not to say that the name was not personal, but arose from
his being the head of the Takshak or Naga tribe, which is confirmed.
It is to Babur, or rather to his translator, that I am indebted for
this discovery. In describing the limits of Banu, Babur thus mentions
it: “And on the west is Dasht, which is also called Bazar and Tak”; to
which the erudite translator adds, “Tak is said long to have been the
capital of Daman.” In Mr. Elphinstone’s map, Bazar, which Babur makes
identical with Tak, is a few miles north of the city of Attok. There
is no question that both the river and city were named after the race
of Tak or Takshak, the Nagas, Nagvansi, or snake race, who spread over
India. Indeed, I would assume that the name of Omphis, which young
Taxiles had on his father’s death, is Ophis, the Greek version of Tak,
the ‘serpent.’ The Taks appear to have been established in the same
regions at the earliest period. The Mahabharata describes the wars
between Janamejaya and the Takshaks, to revenge on their king the
death of his father Parikshit, emperor of Indraprastha, or Delhi.
[These theories have no foundation. Omphis is the Greek form of Skt.
Āmbhi, and has no connexion with a snake cult (Smith, _EHI_, 60).]
Footnote 7.1.49:
[This is a series of folk etymologies intended to explain the
intermixture of these tribes. For the Kalhora tribe see Rose,
_Glossary_, ii. 440 ff.]
Footnote 7.1.50:
The names of these Rajput races, several of which are now blotted from
the page of existence, prove the fidelity of the original manuscript.
The Barahas are now Muhammadans.
Footnote 7.1.51:
The Buta is amongst the extinct tribes.
Footnote 7.1.52:
Pugal from the most remote times has been inhabited by the Pramar
race. It is one of the Nau-koti Maru-ki, the nine castles of the
desert.
Footnote 7.1.53:
The Sodhas of Umarkot have inhabited the desert from time immemorial,
and are in all probability the Sogdoi of Alexander. See Vol. I. p.
111.
Footnote 7.1.54:
Lodorva will be described hereafter.
Footnote 7.1.55:
[The above series of legends of the Bhatti settlement in the desert is
a mass of fiction. “We are told that Sālivāhan founded the city of
Sālbāhanpur in Vikrama Sambat 72, or about A.D. 16; that the third in
succession to him, Mangal Rāo, was driven southward into the desert,
and that Mangal Rāo’s grandson, Kehar, laid the foundations of a
castle called Tanot (still in Jaisalmer territory), which was
completed in A.D. 731; or, in other words, that Sālivāhan and his five
immediate successors reigned for more than seven hundred years. Again,
it is said that in Sālivāhan’s time the coconut, an offer of marriage,
came from Rāja Jaipāl Tonwar of Delhi, whereas the Tonwar dynasty
ruled at Delhi for just a century from about A.D. 1050.” This
Sālivāhana cannot be the hero who is said to have conquered the
Indo-Scythians, but some of the many legends connected with him may
have suggested the fictions of the Bhatti bards (Erskine iii. A. 96).]
Footnote 7.1.56:
Mulraj had three sons, Rajpal, Lohwa, and Chubar. The elder son had
two sons, Rana and Giga; the first of whom had five sons, Dhukur,
Pohor, Budh, Kulru, Jaipal, all of whom had issue, and became heads of
clans. The descendants of Giga bore the name of Khengar (_qu._ chiefs
of Girnar?). The annals of all these States abound with similar minute
genealogical details, which to the Rajputs are of the highest
importance in enabling them to trace the affinities of families, but
which it is imperative to omit, as they possess no interest for the
European reader. I have extracted the names of the issue of Mulraj to
show this. The Khengars were famed in the peninsula of Surashtra—nine
of them ruled in Junagarh Girnar; and but for this incidental
relation, their origin must have ever remained concealed from the
archaeologist, as the race has long been extinct. On some future day I
hope to present a sketch of Khengar’s palace, on the sacred mount
Girnar, to the public. [The famous well, at least, is attributed to
Rāo Khengār II. (A.D. 1098-1125) (_BG_, viii. 444).]
Footnote 7.1.57:
The remains of this once famous town, the ancient capital of the upper
valley of the Indus, I had the happiness to discover by means of one
of my parties, in 1811. It is the Alor of Abu-l-fazl, the capital of
Raja Siharas, whose kingdom extended north to Kashmir, and south to
the ocean; and the Azour of D’Anville, who, on the authority of Ebn
Haukal, says, “Azour est presque comparable à Multan pour la
grandeur.” He adds, that Azizi places it “trente parasanges de
Mansora.” If Mansura is the ancient Bakhar (capital of the Sogdoi), we
should read three instead of thirty. See Map, Vol. I.[Mansūra was near
Bāhmanābād.]
Footnote 7.1.58:
Panjnad is the name which the Indus bears immediately below the point
of confluence of the five streams (panj-nadi). The mere mention of
such terms as the Panjnad, and the ancient Aror, stamps these annals
with authenticity, however they may be deformed by the interpolations
and anachronisms of ignorant copyists. Of Aror, or the Panjnad,
excepting the regular kasids, or messengers, perhaps not an individual
living in Jaisalmer could not speak.
Footnote 7.1.59:
[This is another anachronism. The Deora sept of the Chauhāns, of which
the Rāja of Sirohi is head, did not come into existence until the
thirteenth century, and Jālor was then held by the Paramāras, who kept
possession till they were ousted by the Chauhāns at the end of the
twelfth century (Erskine iii. A. 10).]
Footnote 7.1.60:
This shows that the Baraha tribe was of the same faith with the Yadu
Bhatti; in fact ‘the star of Islam’ did not shine in these regions for
some time after, although Umar, in the first century, had established
a colony of the faithful at Bakhar, afterwards Mansura. The Barahas
are mentioned by Pottinger in his travels in Balochistan.
Footnote 7.1.61:
There are but six descents given from Salbahan, the leader of the Yadu
colony from Zabulistan into the Panjab, and Kehar, the founder of
their first settlement in the desert of India. The period of the first
is S. 72, of the other S. 787. Either names are wanting, or the period
of Salbahan is erroneous. Kehar’s period, namely, S. 787, appears a
landmark, and is borne out by numerous subsequent most valuable
synchronisms. Were we to admit one hundred years to have elapsed
between Salbahan and Kehar, it would make the period of expulsion from
Zabulistan about S. 687, which is just about the era of Muhammad.
Footnote 7.1.62:
See “Essay on the Hindu and Theban Hercules,” _Transactions of the
Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. iii.
Footnote 7.1.63:
[Sīstān is Sakastēnē, “The Saka country”.]
Footnote 7.1.64:
[The capital of Sambos was Sindimana, probably Sihwān (Smith, _EHI_,
101).]
Footnote 7.1.65:
Mr. Wilson discovered the name of Pandu in Ptolemy’s _Geography of
Sogdiana_; and according to Ebn Haukal, the city of Herat is also
called Hari. This adjoins Maru, or Merv, and to Marusthali the Pandu
and Harikula races retired on their exile from India. If ever these
remote regions are searched for ancient inscriptions, we may yet
ascend the ladder of Time. What was that Hamiri language, inscribed on
the gate of Samarkand? (Ouseley, _Ebn Haukal_, p. 254). The lamented
death of that enterprising traveller, Mr. Brown, when he was about
visiting Transoxiana, leaves a fine field to the adventurous. The
Buddhist colossal sculptures and caves at Bamian, with such
inscriptions as they may contain, are of the highest importance; and I
have little doubt, will be found of the same character as those
discovered in the cave temples of India, attributed to the Pandus.
[The author depended on Wilford (_Asiatic Researches_, vi. 462 ff.).
For Bamiān see _EB_, 11th ed. iii. 304 f.]
Footnote 7.1.66:
In a portion of the essay “On the Theban and Hindu Hercules,” which I
suppressed as better suited to an intended dissertation “On the
Sepulchral Monuments of the Rajpoots,” where I trace a close analogy
between their customs and those of the Scythic and Scandinavian
Warriors, my particular attention was drawn to that singular monument
discovered by Elphinstone, called the “Tope Manikiala.” I had before
(_Trans. R.A.S._ vol. i. p. 330) conjectured it to be one of the many
mausoleums erected to Menander, but on observing the geography of St.
Croix, in his _Examen Critique des Historiens d’Alexandre_, who places
the city of Bucephalus on the very spot where the monument found by
Mr. E. exists, I gave up Menander for Alexander’s horse, and this,
long anterior to its reported excavation by the Chev. Ventura, for
whose subsequent observations we impatiently wait. [Mānikiāla, in the
Rāwalpindi District; the Stūpa marks the spot where Gautama Buddha
offered his body to appease the hunger of seven tiger cubs (_IGI_,
xvii. 182 f.). The site of Boukephala is practically identical with
the modern Jihlam (Smith, _EHI_, 71).]
-----
CHAPTER 2
=Question of Dates.=—The dates of the varied events related in the
preceding chapter may be of doubtful accuracy, but we have at length
arrived on the _terra firma_ of Bhatti chronology. We may distrust the
date, 3008 of Yudishthira’s era, for the victory obtained by the Jadon
prince of Gajni over the kings of Rum and Khorasan;[7.2.1] as well as
that of S. 72 assigned for the exode of Salbahan and his Yadus from
Zabulistan, and their colonization of the Panjab;[7.2.2] but their
settlements in the desert, and the foundation of [233] Tanot, their
first seat of power, in S. 787 (A.D. 731), are corroborated by
incontrovertible synchronisms in almost every subsequent reign of these
annals.
=Rāo Kehar I.=—Kehar, a name highly respected in the history of the
Bhatti race, and whose exploit has been already recorded, must have been
the cotemporary of the celebrated Caliph Al Walid,[7.2.3] the first
whose arms extended to the plains of India, and one of whose earliest
conquests and chief positions was Aror, the capital of Upper Sind.
=Rāo Tano or Tanuji.=—Kehar[7.2.4] had five sons; namely, Tano, Utirao,
Chanar, Kaphrio, Them. All of them had offspring,[7.2.5] who became the
heads of clans, retaining the patronymic. All were soldiers of fortune,
and they conquered the lands of the Chana Rajputs;[7.2.6] but the latter
revenged themselves upon Kehar, whom they attacked and slew as he was
hunting.
Tano succeeded. He laid waste the lands of the Barahas,[7.2.7] and those
of the Langaha of Multan. But Husain Shah advanced with the Langaha
Pathans,[7.2.8] clothed in armour with iron helms, with the men of
Dudi,[7.2.9] of Khichi[7.2.10] the Khokhar;[7.2.11] the Mogul, the
Johya,[7.2.12] the Jud,[7.2.12] and Sayyid, all mounted on horses, to
the number of ten thousand men, to attack the Jadon. They reached the
territory of the Barahas, who [234] joined them, and there they
encamped. Tano collected his brethren around him, and prepared for
defence. During four days they defended the castle; and on the fifth the
Rao ordered the gates to be thrown open, and with his son, Bijairae,
sallied out sword in hand, and attacked the besiegers. The Barahas were
the first to fly, and they were soon followed by the rest of the Asurs.
The victors carried the spoils of the field into Tanot. As soon as the
armies of Multan and Langaha were driven off, the coco-nut came from
Jiju, chief of the Butas of Butaban,[7.2.13] and an alliance offensive
and defensive was formed against the prince of Multan.
Tano had five sons, Bijairae, Makar, Jaitang, Alan, and Rakecha. The
second son, Makar, had issue Maipa, who had two sons, Mohola and Dakao,
the latter of whom excavated the lake known by his name. His issue
became carpenters (Sutar), and are to this day known as the Makar
Sutar.[7.2.14]
The third son, Jaitang, had two sons, Ratansi and Chohar. The first
repaired the ruined city of Bikampur.[7.2.15] Chohar had two sons, Kola
and Girraj, who founded the towns of Kolasar and Girrajsar.[7.2.15]
The fourth son, Alan, had four sons, Deosi, Tirpal, Bhaoni, and Rakecha.
The descendants of Deosi became Rabaris (who rear camels),[7.2.16] and
the issue of Rakecha became merchants (Banias), and are now classed
amongst the Oswal tribe.[7.2.17]
Tano having, by the interposition of the goddess Bijaiseni, discovered a
hidden treasure, erected a fortress, which he named Bijnot;[7.2.18] and
in this he placed a statue of the goddess, on the 13th, the enlightened
part of the month Margsir, the Rohini Nakshatra, S. 813 (A.D. 757). He
died after ruling eighty years.
=Bijairāē.=—Bijairae succeeded in S. 870 (A.D. 814). He commenced his
reign with the _tika-daur_ against his old enemies, the Barahas, whom he
defeated and plundered. In S. 892, he had a son by the Buta queen, who
was called Deoraj. The Barahas and Langahas once more united to attack
the Bhatti prince; but they were defeated [235] and put to flight.
Finding that they could not succeed by open warfare, they had recourse
to treachery. Having, under pretence of terminating this long feud,
invited young Deoraj to marry the daughter of the Baraha chief, the
Bhattis attended, when Bijairae and eight hundred of his kin and clan
were massacred. Deoraj escaped to the house of the Purohit (of the
Barahas, it is presumed), whither he was pursued. There being no hope of
escape, the Brahman threw the Brahmanical thread round the neck of the
young prince, and in order to convince his pursuers that they were
deceived as to the object of their search, he sat down to eat with him
from the same dish.[7.2.19] Tanot was invested and taken, and nearly
every soul in it put to the sword, so that the very name of Bhatti was
for a while extinct.
=Rāo Deorāj.=—Deoraj remained for a long time concealed in the territory
of the Barahas; but at length he ventured to Buta, his maternal abode,
where he had the happiness to find his mother, who had escaped the
massacre at Tanot. She was rejoiced to behold her son’s face, and “waved
the salt over his head,” then threw it into the water, exclaiming, “Thus
may your enemies melt away!” Soon tired of a life of dependence, Deoraj
asked for a single village, which was promised; but the kin of the Buta
chief alarmed him, and he recalled it, and limited his grant to such a
quantity of land as he could encompass by the thongs cut from a single
buffalo’s hide; and this, too, in the depth of the desert. For this
expedient he was indebted to the architect Kaikeya, who had constructed
the castle of Bhatner.[7.2.20] Deoraj immediately commenced erecting a
[236] place of strength, which he called after himself Deogarh, or
Derawar,[7.2.21] on Monday, the 5th of the month Magh (sudi), the Pushya
Nakshatra, S. 909.
Soon as the Buta chief heard that his son-in-law was erecting, not a
dwelling, but a castle, he sent a force to raze it. Deoraj despatched
his mother with the keys to the assailants, and invited the leaders to
receive the castle and his homage; when the chief men, to the number of
a hundred and twenty, entered, they were inveigled, under pretence of
consultation, ten at a time, and each party put to death and their
bodies thrown over the wall. Deprived of their leaders, the rest took to
flight.
Soon after, the prince was visited by his patron, the Jogi who had
protected him amongst the Barahas, and who now gave him the title of
Siddh.[7.2.22] This Jogi, who possessed the art of transmuting metals,
lodged in the same house where Deoraj found protection on the massacre
of his father and kindred. One day, the holy man had gone abroad,
leaving his jarjarikakantha, or ‘tattered doublet,’ in which was the
Raskumbha, or ‘elixir-vessel,’ a drop of which having fallen on the
dagger of Deoraj and changed it to gold, he decamped with both, and it
was by the possession of this he was enabled to erect Derawar. The Jogi
was well aware of the thief whom he now came to visit; and he confirmed
him in the possession of the stolen property, on one condition, that he
should become his chela and disciple, and, as a token of submission and
fidelity, adopt the external symbols of the Jogi. Deoraj assented, and
was invested with the Jogi robe of ochre.[7.2.23] He placed the
mudra[7.2.24] in his ear, the little horn round his neck, and [237] the
bandage (langota) about his loins; and with the gourd (khopra) in his
hand, he perambulated the dwellings of his kin, exclaiming, Alakh!
Alakh![7.2.25] The gourd was filled with gold and pearls; the title of
Rao was abandoned for that of Rawal;[7.2.26] the tika was made on his
forehead; and exacting a pledge that these rites of inauguration should
be continued to the latest posterity, the Baba Rata (for such was the
Jogi’s name) disappeared.
Deoraj determined to wreak his revenge on the Barahas, and he enjoyed it
even “to stripping the scarfs from the heads of their females.” On his
return to Derawar, he prepared for an attack on Langaha, the heir of
which was then on a marriage expedition at Alipur. There, Deoraj
attacked and slew a thousand of them, the rest henceforth acknowledged
his supremacy. The Langahas were gallant Rajputs.
=The Langāha Tribe.=—As the tribe of Langaha, or Langa, will from this
period go hand in hand, in all the international wars of the
Yadu-Bhattis, from their expulsion from the Panjab to their final
settlement in the Indian desert, it is of some interest to trace its
origin and destiny. It is distinctly stated that, at this epoch, the
Langahas were Rajputs; and they are in fact a subdivision of the Solanki
or Chalukya race, one of the four Agnikula; and it is important to
observe that in their gotracharya, or ‘genealogical tree,’ they claim
Lohkot in the Panjab as their early location; in all probability prior
to their regeneration on Mount Abu, when they adopted Brahmanical
principles. From the year S. 787 (A.D. 731), when the castle of Tanot
was erected by the leader of the Bhatti colony, down to S. 1530 (A.D.
1474), a period of seven hundred and forty-three years, perpetual
border-strife appears to have occurred between the Bhattis and Langahas,
which terminated in that singular combat, or duel, of tribe against
tribe, during the reign of Rawal Chachak, in the last-mentioned period.
Shortly after this, Babur conquered India, and Multan became a province
of the empire, when the authority of tribes ceased. Ferishta, however,
comes to our aid and gives us an account of an entire dynasty of this
tribe as kings of Multan. The first of this line of five kings began his
reign A.H. 847 (A.D. 1443), or thirty years anterior to the death of
Rawal Chachak. The Muslim historian (see Briggs’ Ferishta, vol. iv. p.
379) says that when Khizr Khan Sayyid[7.2.27] was emperor of Delhi, he
sent Shaikh Yusuf as his lieutenant to Multan, who gained the esteem of
the surrounding princes; amongst whom was Rae Sahra, chief of Sivi, head
of the tribe of Langaha [238], who came to congratulate him, and to
offer his services and a daughter in marriage. The offer was accepted;
constant communication was kept up between Sivi and Multan, till at
length Rae Sahra disclosed the object of all this solicitude; he threw
aside the mask, confined the Shaikh, sent him off to Delhi, and crowned
himself king of Multan, under the title of Kutbu-d-din.
Ferishta[7.2.28] calls Rae Sahra and his tribe of Langaha, Afghans; and
Abu-l-fazl says, the inhabitants of Sivi were of the Numri (fox) tribe,
which is assuredly one of the most numerous of the Jat or Gete race,
though they have all, since their conversion, adopted the distinctive
term of Baloch. The Bhatti chronicle calls the Langahas in one page
Pathan, and in another Rajput, which are perfectly reconcilable, and by
no means indicative that the Pathan or Afghan of that early period, or
even in the time of Rae Sahra, was a Muhammadan. The title of Rae is
sufficient proof that they were even then Hindus. Mr. Elphinstone scouts
the idea of the descent of the Afghans from the Jews; and not a trace of
the Hebrew is found in the Pushtu, or language of this tribe, although
it has much affinity to the Zend and Sanskrit. I cannot refrain from
repeating my conviction of the origin of the Afghans from the Yadu,
converted into Yahudi, or ‘Jew.’ Whether these Yadus are or are not
Yuti, or Getae, remains to be proved.[7.2.29]
To the south of Derawar dwelt the Lodra Rajputs; their capital was
Lodorva,[7.2.30] an immense city, having twelve gates. The family
Purohit, having been offended, took sanctuary (saran) with Deoraj, and
stimulated him to dispossess his old masters of their territory. A
marriage was proposed to Nripbhan, the chief of the Lodras, which being
accepted, Deoraj, at the head of twelve hundred chosen horse, departed
for Lodorva. The gates of the city were thrown open as the bridegroom
approached; but no sooner had he entered with his suite, than swords
were drawn, and Deoraj made himself master of Lodorva.[7.2.31] He
married the chief’s daughter, left a garrison in Lodorva, and returned
to Derawar. Deoraj was now lord of fifty-six thousand horse, and a
hundred thousand camels [239].[7.2.32]
At this period, a merchant of Derawar, named Jaskaran, having gone to
Dharanagari, was imprisoned by its prince, Brajbhan Puar, and compelled
to pay a ransom for his liberty. On his return to Derawar, he showed the
mark of the iron-collar to his sovereign, who, indignant at the
dishonour put upon his subject, swore he would not drink water until he
had avenged the insult. But he had not calculated the distance between
him and his foe; in order, however, to redeem his pledge, a _Dhar_ of
clay (_gar-ra-dhar_) was constructed, on which he was about to wreak his
vengeance, but there were Pramars in his army, who were at their post
ready to defend their mock capital; and, as their astonished prince
advanced to destroy it, they exclaimed—
_Jān Puār tan Dhār hai
Aur Dhār tān Puār
Dhār bina Puār nahīn
Aur nahīn Puār bina Dhār_,
which may be thus translated:
“Wherever there is a Puar, there is a Dhar; and where there is a Dhar,
there is a Puar. There is no Dhar without a Puar; neither is there a
Puar without a Dhar.”[7.2.33]
Under their leaders, Tejsi and Sarang, they protected the mock Dhar, and
were cut to pieces to the number of one hundred and twenty.[7.2.34]
Deoraj approved their valour, and provided for their children. Being
thus released from his oath, he proceeded towards Dhar, reducing those
who opposed his progress. Brajbhan defended Dhar during five days, and
fell with eight hundred of his men; upon which Deoraj unfurled the flag
of victory and returned to his late conquest, the city of Lodorva.
Deoraj had two sons, Mund and Chedu; the last, by a wife of the Baraha
tribe, had five sons, whose descendants were styled Cheda Rajputs.
Deoraj excavated several large lakes in the territory of Khadal (in
which Derawar is situated); one at Tanot is called Tanosar; another,
after himself, Deosar. Having one day gone to hunt, slightly attended,
he was attacked by an ambush of the Chana Rajputs, and slain with
twenty-six of his attendants, after having reigned fifty-five years. His
kin and clans shaved their locks and moustaches, excepting[7.2.35]
Mund, who succeeded, and performed all the ceremonies during the twelve
days. Having made his ablutions with the water from sixty-eight
different wells, in which [240] were immersed the leaves of one hundred
and eight different shrubs and trees, a female of spotless virtue waved
the burning frankincense over his head. Before him was placed the
panjamrit, consisting of curds, milk, butter, sugar, and honey; likewise
pearls, gems, the royal umbrella, the grass called dub, various flowers,
a looking-glass, a young virgin, a chariot, a flag or banner, the _vela_
flower, seven sorts of grain, two fish, a horse, a _nakhank_
(unknown),[7.2.36] a bullock, a shell, a lotus, a vessel of water, the
tail of the wild ox (_chaunri_), a sword, a female calf, a litter,
yellow clay, and prepared food. Then, seated on the lion’s hide—(on
which were painted the seven dwipas or continents of Hindu cosmography,
apparelled in the dress of the Jogi, and covered with ashes (_bhabut_),
with the _mudra_ in his ears)—the white _chaunri_ (ox-tail) was waved
over his head, and he was inaugurated on the _gaddi_ of Deoraj, while
the Purohit and chiefs presented their offerings. The _tika-daur_ was
against the assassins of his father, who had congregated for defence,
eight hundred of whom were put to death. Rawal Mund had one son, who was
called Bachera. When about fourteen years of age the coco-nut came from
Balabhsen Solanki, Raja of Patan.[7.2.37] He forthwith proceeded to
Patan, where he married the Solanki princess, and died not long after
his father.
=Rāwal Bachera or Wachuji.=—Bachera succeeded on Saturday the 12th
Sravan, S. 1035.[7.2.38] The same rites of installation were performed;
the Kanphara (split-eared) Jogi was the first to put the regal _tilak_
on his forehead, and “his hand upon his back.” Rawal Bachera had five
sons, Dusaj, Singh, Bapi Rao, Ankho, and Malpasao; all of whom had
issue, forming clans.
A merchant came to Lodorva with a caravan of horses, of which there was
one of a race so superior that a lakh of rupees was fixed as his price;
the breed belonged to a Pathan chief, west of the Indus. To obtain it,
Dusaj and his son Ankho put themselves at the head of a band, crossed
the Indus, slew Ghazi Khan, the Pathan chief, and carried off his stud
[241].
Singh had a son, Sachharae; his son was Bala, who had two sons, Ratan
and Jaga; they attacked the Parihar prince Jagannath of Mandor, and
carried off five hundred camels: their descendants are styled Singhrao
Rajputs.
Bapi Rao had two sons, Pahu and Mandan. Pahu had likewise two, Biram and
Tular, whose numerous issue were styled the Pahu Rajputs. The Pahus
issued from their abode of Bikampur, and conquered the lands of the
Johyas, as far as Devijhal; and having made Pugal[7.2.39] their capital,
they dug numerous wells in the _thal_, which still go by the name of the
Pahu wells.
Near Khata, in the Nagor district of Marwar, there dwelt a warrior of
the Khichi tribe, named Jadra, who often plundered even to the gates of
Pugal, slaying many of the Jaitang Bhattis. Dusaj prepared a kafila
(‘caravan’) under pretence of making a pilgrimage to the Ganges, invaded
unawares the Khichi chief’s territory, and slew him, with nine hundred
of his men.
Dusaj, with his three brothers, went to the land of Kher, where dwelt
Partap Singh, chief of the Guhilots,[7.2.40] whose daughters they
espoused. “In the land of Kher, the Jadon showered gold, enriching it.”
In the _daeja_ (dower) with his daughter, the Guhilot gave fifteen
Dewadharis, or ‘virgin lamp-holders.’ Soon after, the Balochs made an
inroad into the territory of Khadal; a battle ensued, in which five
hundred were killed, and the rest fled beyond the river. Bachera died,
and was succeeded by
=Rāwal Dusaj.=— Dusaj, in the month of Asarh, S. 1100. Hamir, prince of
the Sodhas,[7.2.41] made an incursion into his territories, which he
plundered. Dusaj having unavailingly remonstrated, reminding him of
ancient ties, he marched into Dhat, and gained a victory. Dusaj had two
sons, Jaisal and Bijairaj, and in his old age a third son, by a Ranawat
princess of the house of Mewar, called Lanja Bijairae, who, when Dusaj
died, was placed on the throne by the nobles and civil officers of the
State. Previous to his elevation, he had espoused a daughter of Siddhraj
Jai Singh, Solanki. During the nuptial ceremonies, as the mother of the
bride was marking the forehead of the bridegroom [242] with the _tilak_,
or ‘inauguration mark,’ she exclaimed, “My son, do thou become the
portal of the north—the barrier between us and the king, whose power is
becoming strong.”[7.2.42] By the princess of Patan he had a son, who was
named Bhojdeo, and who, by the death of his father when he attained the
age of twenty-five, became lord of Lodorva. The other sons of Dusaj were
at this time advanced in manhood, Jaisal being thirty-five, and Bijairaj
thirty-two years of age.
Some years before the death of Dusaj, Raedhawal Puar, son (or
descendant) of Udayaditya of Dhar, had three daughters, one of whom he
betrothed to Jaipal (Ajaipal) Solanki, son of Siddhraj;[7.2.43] another
to Bijairaj Bhatti, and the third to the Rana of Chitor. The Bhatti
prince left Lodorva for Dhar at the head of seven hundred horse, and
arrived at the same time with the Sesodia and Solanki princes. On his
return to Lodorva, he erected a temple to Seshalinga, close to which he
made a lake. By the Puar princess he had a son named Rahar, who had two
sons, Netsi and Keksi.
Bhojdeo had not long occupied the _gaddi_ of Lodorva, when his uncle
Jaisal conspired against him; but being always surrounded by a guard of
five hundred Solanki Rajputs, his person was unassailable. At this time
the prince of Patan was often engaged with the king’s troops from Tatta.
Jaisal, in pursuance of his plan, determined to coalesce with the king,
and cause an attack on Patan (Anhilwara), by which alone he could hope
for the departure of the Solanki body-guard. Jaisal, with his chief kin,
escorted by two hundred horse, marched to the Panjnad, where he saw the
king of Ghor, who had just overcome the king of Tatta,[7.2.44] and
placed his own garrison there [243],[7.2.45] and he accompanied him to
Aror, the ancient capital of Sind. There he unfolded his views, and
having sworn allegiance to the king, he obtained a force to dispossess
his nephew of his territory. Lodorva was encompassed, and Bhojdeo slain
in its defence. In two days the inhabitants were to carry off their
effects, and on the third the troops of Ghor were permitted the license
of plunder. Lodorva was sacked, and Karim Khan departed for Bakhar with
the spoils.
=The Foundation of Jaisalmer, _c._ A.D. 1156.=—Jaisal thus obtained the
_gaddi_ of Lodorva; but it being open to invasion, he sought a spot
better adapted for defence, and he found one only five coss (ten miles)
from Lodorva. Upon the summit of a rocky ridge, he discovered a Brahman,
whose solitary hermitage adjoined the fountain of Brahmsar. Having paid
homage, and disclosed the purport of his visit, the recluse related the
history of the triple-peaked hill, which overlooked his hermitage. He
said that in the Treta, or ‘silver age,’ a celebrated ascetic called
Kak, or Kaga, resided at this fountain, after whom the rivulet which
issued thence had its name of Kaga; that the Pandu Arjun, with Hari
Krishna, came there to attend a great sacrifice, on which occasion
Krishna foretold that, in some distant age, a descendant of his should
erect a town on the margin of that rivulet, and should raise a castle on
Trikuta, the triple-peaked mount.[7.2.46] While Krishna thus prophesied,
it was observed to him by Arjun that the water was bad, when Krishna
smote the rock with his chakra (discus), whereupon a sweet spring
bubbled up, and on its margin were inscribed the prophetic stanzas which
the hermit Isal now pointed out to the Bhatti prince, who read as
follows:
1.
“Oh prince of Jadu-vansa! come into this land, and on this mountain’s
top erect a triangular castle.
2.
“Lodorva is destroyed, but only five coss therefrom is Jasana, a site
of twice its strength.
3.
“Prince, whose name is Jaisal, who will be of Yadu race, abandon
Lodorpura; here erect thy dwelling.”
The hermit Isal alone knew the existence of the fountain on whose margin
these lines were engraved. All that he stipulated for himself was that
the fields to the [244] westward of the castle should retain his name,
“the fields of Isal.” He foretold that the intended castle should twice
and a half times be sacked; that rivers of blood would flow, and that
for a time all would be lost to his descendants.
On Rabiwar, ‘the day of the sun’ (a favourite day for commencing any
grand undertaking with all these tribes), the 12th of Sravan, the
enlightened half of the moon, S. 1212 (A.D. 1156), the foundation of
Jaisalmer was laid, and soon the inhabitants, with all that was
valuable, abandoned Lodorva,[7.2.47] and began to erect new habitations.
Jaisal had two sons, Kelan and Salbahan. He chose his chief ministers
and advisers from the children of Sodal, of the Pahu tribe, who became
too powerful. Their old enemies, the Ghana Rajputs, again invaded the
lands of Khadal; but they suffered for their audacity. Jaisal survived
this event five years, when he died, and was succeeded by his youngest
son, Salbahan the Second [245].
-----
Footnote 7.2.1:
The emperor Babur tells us, in his _Commentaries_, that the people of
India apply the term Khorasan to all the regions west of the Indus.
Footnote 7.2.2:
Notwithstanding the lapse of eleven hundred years since the expulsion
of the Bhattis from the Panjab, and in spite of the revolutions in
laws, language, and religion, since the descendants of Salbahan
abandoned that region, yet, even to this day, there is abundant
testimony in its geographical nomenclature that the Bhattis had
dominion there. We have Pindi Bhattia-ka, Bhatti-ka-chak, in the very
position where we should look for Salbahanpur.—See Elphinstone’s Map.
[Sālbāhanpur is generally identified with Siālkot (_ASR_, ii. 21).]
Footnote 7.2.3:
[Walīd I., seventh Caliph of the house of Ummaya (A.D. 705-14).]
Footnote 7.2.4:
Although I omit the inverted commas indicative of translation, the
reader is to understand that what follows is a free interpretation of
the original chronicle.
Footnote 7.2.5:
Utirao had five sons, Sorna, Sahasi, Jiva, Chako, and Ajo; their issue
had the generic term of Utirao. It is thus their clans and tribes are
multiplied _ad infinitum_, and since the skill of the genealogist
(Bhat) is required to keep them clear of incestuous marriages, even
such uninteresting details have some value, as they stamp their annals
with authenticity.
Footnote 7.2.6:
The tribe of Chana is now extinct.
Footnote 7.2.7:
These Indo-Scythic tribes were designated by the names of animals. The
Barahas are the hogs; the Numris, the foxes; Takshaks, the snakes;
Aswas or Asi, the horses, etc. [possibly an indication of totemism].
Footnote 7.2.8:
These Langaha Pathans were proselytes from the Solanki Rajputs, one of
the four Agnikula races. Probably they inhabited the district of
Lamghan, west of the Indus. It is curious and interesting to find that
the Solanki gotracharya, or ‘genealogical creed,’ claims Lohkot as
their settlement. The use of the word Pathan by no means precludes
their being Hindus. [The Langāhs, originally Afghāns, are now
agriculturists (Rose, _Glossary_, iii. 30 f.).]
Footnote 7.2.9:
Babur, in his valuable _Autobiography_, gives us the names of all the
tribes he met in his passage into India, and this enumeration goes far
to prove the authenticity of the early annals of the Bhattis. Babur
does not mention “the men of Dudi.”
Footnote 7.2.10:
The introduction of the name of this tribe here is highly important,
and very interesting to those who have studied, in the Rajput bards,
their early history. The bards of the Khichis give them this northern
origin, and state that all Sindsagar, one of the duabs of the Panjab,
belonged to them.
Footnote 7.2.11:
The Khokhar is most probably the Ghakkar. Babur writes the name Gakar,
a singular race, and decidedly Scythic in their habits even in his
day. [The Khokhar and Ghakkar tribes are often confused (Rose ii.
554).]
Footnote 7.2.12:
Of the Judis and Johyas we have already spoken as inhabiting the range
called in the native annals Jadu-ka-dang, and by Babur “the hill of
Jud,” skirting the Behat. The position of Bahara is laid down in that
monument of genius and industry, the Memoir of Rennel (who calls it
Bheera), in 32° N. and 72° 10´ E.; and by Elphinstone in 32° 10´, but
a whole degree further to the east, or 73° 15´. This city, so often
mentioned in the Yadu-Bhatti annals as one of their intermediate
places of repose, on their expulsion from India and migration to
Central Asia, has its position minutely pointed out by the Emperor
Babur (p. 259), who, in his attack on the hill tribes of Jats, Gujars,
Ghakkars, etc., adjoining Kashmir, “expelled Hati Guker from Behreh,
on the Behut River, near the cave temples of Gar-kotri at Bikrum,” of
which the able annotator remarks, that as well as those of But Bamian,
they were probably Buddhist. Babur (p. 294) also found the Jats
masters of Sialkot, most likely the Salpur of the Inscription (p. 916
above), conquered from a Jat prince in the twelfth century by the
Patan prince, and presumed to be the Salbahanpur founded by the
fugitive Yadu prince of Gajni [see p. 1183 above].
Footnote 7.2.13:
Butaban, probably from _vana_, pronounced in the dialect _ban_, the
‘wild’ or ‘forest’ of Buta.
Footnote 7.2.14:
Illegitimate children can never overcome this natural defect amongst
the Rajputs. Thus we find among all classes of artisans in India, some
of royal but spurious descent. [This is a good instance of high-caste
blood in artisan castes; see Russell, _Tribes and Castes of Central
Provinces_, ii. 200.]
Footnote 7.2.15:
These towns and lakes are well known, but have been seized by Bikaner.
See Map. [Bīkampur, 95 miles N.E. of Jaisalmer city.]
Footnote 7.2.16:
[The Rabāris say that they were created by Siva to take care of the
first camel which Pārvati formed for her amusement (_Census Report,
Mārwār_, 1891, ii. 157). Rose (_Glossary_, iii. 269) writes Rahbāri,
probably Persian _rahwār_, ‘active.’]
Footnote 7.2.17:
The Oswal is the richest and most numerous of the eighty-four
mercantile tribes of India, and is said to amount to one hundred
thousand families. They are called ‘Oswal’ from their first
settlement, the town of Osian. They are all of pure Rajput birth, of
no single tribe, but chiefly Puars, Solankis, and Bhattis. All profess
the Jain tenets, and it is a curious fact, though little known, that
the pontiffs of that faith must be selected from the youth of Osian.
The wealthy bankers and merchants of these regions scattered
throughout India, are all known under one denomination, Marwari, which
is erroneously supposed to apply to the Jodhpur territory, whereas, in
fact, it means belonging to the desert. It is singular that the wealth
of India should centre in this region of comparative sterility.
Footnote 7.2.18:
See Map.
Footnote 7.2.19:
[Such tales are common, and generally imply a flaw in the pedigree.]
Footnote 7.2.20:
This deception practised by the Bhatti chief to obtain land on which
to erect a fortress is not unknown in other parts of India, and in
more remote regions. Bhatner owes its name to this expedient, from the
division (_bantna_) of the hide. The etymology of Calcutta is the
same, but should be written Khalkata, from the cuttings of the hide
(_khal_). Byrsa, the castle of Carthage, originates from the same
story. If there existed any affinity between the ancient Pali
languages of India and the Punic or Phoenician (as the names of its
princes and their adjuncts of _bal_ would indicate), and the letters B
and Ch were as little dissimilar in Punic as in Sanskrit, then Byrsa
would become charsa, ‘hide’ or ‘skin,’ which might have originated the
capital of the African Mauritania, as of the Indian Maruthan. Thus
Marocco may be from Maruka, of or belonging to Maru, the desert, also
probably the origin of the Merv of Iran. The term Moor may likewise be
corrupted from Mauri, an inhabitant of Maruka, while the Sahariya of
our Indian desert is the brother in name and profession of the Saracen
of Arabia, from Sahra, a desert, and zadan, to assault. The Nomadic
princes of Mauritania might therefore be the Pali or shepherd kings of
Maruthan, the great African desert. And who were these Philita or Pali
kings of Barbary and Egypt? It is well known that the Berbers who
inhabited Abyssinia and the south coast of the Red Sea, migrated to
the northern coast, not only occupying it, as well as Mount Atlas, but
pushing their tribes far into the grand _sahra_, or desert. To those
colonists, that coast owes its name of Barbary. From the days of
Solomon and his contemporary Shishak, an intimate communication
subsisted between the eastern coast of Africa and India; and I have
already hazarded the opinion, that we must look to this coast of
Aethiopia and Abyssinia for the Lanka of the Rameses (Rameswar) of
India; and from the former country the most skilful archaeologists
assert that Egypt had her mythology, and more especially that
mystery—the prominent feature of both systems—the Phallic rites, or
worship of the lingam. Berber, according to Bruce, means a shepherd,
and as _ber_ is a sheep in the language of India, Berber is a shepherd
in the most literal sense, and consequently the synonym of Pali. It
has been asserted that this race colonized these coasts of Africa from
India about the time of Amenophis, and that they are the Hyksos, or
‘shepherd-kings,’ who subjugated Egypt. On this account a comparison
of the ancient architectural remains of Abyssinia and Aethiopia with
those of the ancient Hindus is most desirable. It is asserted, and
with appearance of truth, that the architecture of the Pyramids is
distinct from the Pharaonic, and that they are at once Astronomic and
Phallic. In India, the symbolic pinnacle surmounting the temples of
the sun-god are always pyramidal. If the forthcoming history of the
Berbers should reveal the mystery of their first settlements in
Abyssinia, a great object would be attained; and if search were made
in the old cave-temples of that coast, some remains of the characters
they used might aid in tracing their analogy to the ancient Pali of
the East; an idea suggested by an examination of the few characters
found in the grand desert inhabited by the Tuaregs, which have a
certain resemblance to the Punic, and to the unknown characters
attributed to the Indo-Scythic tribes of India, as on their coins and
cave-temples. Wide asunder as are these regions, the mind that will
strive to lessen the historical separation may one day be successful,
when the connexion between Aethiopia (_qu._ from _aditya_ and
contracted _ait_, the Sun?) and Surashtra, ‘the land of the Sun,’ or
Syria of India, may become more tangible. Ferishta (_vide_ Briggs’
translation, vol. iv. p. 402), quoting original authorities, says,
“the inhabitants of Selandip, or the island of Ceylon, were accustomed
to send vessels to the coast of Africa, to the Red Sea, and Persian
Gulf, from the earliest ages, and Hindu pilgrims resorted to Mecca and
Egypt for the purpose of paying adoration to the idols. It is related
also that this people trading from Ceylon became converts to the true
faith at so early a period as the first caliphs”; all which confirms
the fact of early intercourse between Egypt and India.—See Vol. II. p.
702. [It is unnecessary to criticize in detail the etymologies
suggested in this note, a good instance of the Author’s manner. The
etymology of Calcutta is unknown, the most recent suggestion being
that it is _Khālkata_, ‘a place where a flood cut a creek’ (Yule,
_Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 146; Hoernle, _JASB_, 1898, p. 48 f.; K.
Blechynden, _Calcutta Past and Present_, 1905, p. 5). Bhatner means
‘city of the Bhattis.’ Berber is either Greek βάρβαροι, or a tribal
term, Barabara; that of Aethiopia is unknown (_EB_, 11th ed. iii. 764,
ix. 845). The story of fixing the limits of a territory by riding
round it or by encircling it with strips of hide, as in the story of
Carthage, is common in India (Bradley-Birt, _Chota Nagpore_, 16 f.;
Brett, _Chhattisgarh Gazetteer_, i. 192; _BG_, xiii. Part i. 169, and
many others).]
Footnote 7.2.21:
Deorawal is in the map; it was one of the points of halt in
Elphinstone’s mission to Kabul. This discloses to us the position of
the Buta territory, and as astronomical data are given, those inclined
to prove or disprove the Bhatti chronology have ample means afforded.
Footnote 7.2.22:
[‘One who has attained beatitude.’]
Footnote 7.2.23:
Called _geru_; garments coloured with this dye are worn by all classes
of mendicants.
Footnote 7.2.24:
The mudra is a round prickly seed worn by the ascetics as ear-rings.
Footnote 7.2.25:
The Supreme Being; the universal and One God.
Footnote 7.2.26:
Rawal [_rājakula_, ‘of the royal house’] is still the title of the
princes of Jaisalmer, as it once was that of the Mewar house.
Footnote 7.2.27:
[Khizr Khān was left in charge of Delhi after the sack of that city by
Timūr in A.D. 1398; possessed little power, and died in 1421.]
Footnote 7.2.28:
[iv. 380, 383 f. Abu-l-fazl (_Āīn_, ii. 337) calls them Nohmardi; see
_Census Report, Baluchistan_, 1911, i. 171.]
Footnote 7.2.29:
[The theory of the Jewish descent of the Afghāns is not now accepted
by any serious student. They are probably of Aryan origin, though the
Yadu theory in the text is not supported by good evidence. They link
India on the east with Persia on the west (Sykes, _Hist. of Persia_,
ii. 306; Bellew, _Races of Afghanistan_, 15 ff.).]
Footnote 7.2.30:
[Lodorwa, 10 miles N. of Jaisalmer. For its temples see Erskine iii.
A. 17.]
Footnote 7.2.31:
We are not told of what race (_kula_) was the Lodra Rajput; in all
probability it was Pramara, or Puar, which at one time occupied the
whole desert of India. Lodorva, as will be seen, became the capital of
the Bhattis, until the founding of their last and present capital,
Jaisalmer; it boasts a high antiquity, though now a ruin, occupied by
a few families of shepherds. Many towns throughout the desert were
formerly of celebrity, but are now desolate, through the conjoined
causes of perpetual warfare and the shifting sands. I obtained a
copper-plate inscription of the tenth century from Lodorva, of the
period of Bijairaj, in the ornamental Jain character; also some clay
signets, given to pilgrims, bearing Jain symbols. All these relics
attest the prevailing religion to have been Jain.
Footnote 7.2.32:
A gross exaggeration of the annalist, or a cypher in each added by the
copyist.
Footnote 7.2.33:
Dhar, or Dharanagari, was the most ancient capital of this tribe, the
most numerous of the Agnikula races. See a sketch of the Puars, or
Pramaras, Vol. I. p. 107. [The proverb is repeated by Forbes,
_Rāsmāla_, 115.]
Footnote 7.2.34:
[The story reads like a piece of sympathetic or imitative magic.]
Footnote 7.2.35:
There is no interregnum in Rajwara; the king never dies.
Footnote 7.2.36:
[? _Nikhang_, ‘a quiver.’]
Footnote 7.2.37:
This affords a most important synchronism, corroborative of the
correctness of these annals. Raja Valabhsen of Patan (Anhilwara)
immediately followed Chamund Rae, who was dispossessed of the throne
by Mahmud of Ghazni, in the year A.D. 1011, or S. 1067. [Valabhsen
Durlabha, A.D. 1010-22.] Valabhsen died the year of his installation,
and was succeeded by Durlabh, whose period has also been
synchronically fixed by an inscription belonging to the Pramaras.—See
_Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. i. p. 223. [The
annalist seems to have confounded Anhilwāra Pātan in Gujarāt with
Patan Munām, also called Fatan or Patanpur, five miles from Rahīmyār
Railway Station, on E. bank of the Indus, locally called Sej (Malik
Muhammad Dīn, _Bahāwalpur State Gazetteer_, A. 376 f.).]
Footnote 7.2.38:
This date, S. 1035, is evidently an error of the copyist. Bachera
married Balabhsen’s daughter in S. 1067, and he died in S. 1100; so
that it should be either S. 1055 or 1065. It is important to clear
this point, as Rawal Bachera was the opponent of Mahmud of Ghazni in
his invasion of India, A.H. 303, A.D. 1000, = S. 1056 or S. 1066, the
Samvat era being liable to a variation of ten years (Colebrooke). If
we are right, a passage of Ferishta, which has puzzled the
translators, should run thus: “Mahmud directed his march against the
Bhatti, and passing Multan arrived at Bahra, a Bhatti city.”—Compare
Dow, vol. i. p. 39 (2nd ed.), and Briggs, vol. i. p. 38.
Footnote 7.2.39:
See Map. This was one of the points touched at in Mr. Elphinstone’s
journey. [The town is about 48 miles N.W. of Bīkaner city.]
Footnote 7.2.40:
The chief of the Guhilots is now settled at Bhavnagar, at the estuary
of the Mahi; where I visited him in 1823. The migration of the family
from Kherdhar occurred about a century after that period, according to
the documents in the Rao’s family. And we have only to look at the
opening of the Annals of Marwar to see that from its colonization by
the Rathors the Gohil community of Kherdhar was finally extinguished.
To the general historian these minute facts may be unimportant, but
they cease to be so when they prove the character of these annals for
fidelity.
Footnote 7.2.41:
If this is the Hamira alluded to in the Annals of Bikaner, in whose
time the Ghaggar River ceased to flow in these lands, we have another
date assigned to a fact of great physical importance.
Footnote 7.2.42:
Here we have another synchronism. In the Kumarpal Charitra, or history
of the kings of Anhilwara Patan, the reign of Siddhraj was from S.
1150 to S. 1201, or A.D. 1094 to 1145 [1094-1143]; the point of time
intermediate between the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni and the final
conquest of India by Shihabu-d-din, during which there were many
irruptions into India by the lieutenants of the monarchs of Ghazni.
There was one in the reign of Masud, in A.H. 492 (A.D. 1098), four
years after the accession of Siddhraj; another in A.D. 1120, in the
reign of Bairam Shah, during which, according to Ferishta, the
Ghaznevide general, Balin, rebelled and assailed the Hindu Rajas from
Nagor, where he established himself. [His real name was Muhammad
Bahlīm (Ferishta i. 151).] In all probability this is the event
alluded to by the queen of Patan, when she nominated the Bhatti prince
as her champion.
Footnote 7.2.43:
[Siddharāja Jayasingha had no son, and he was succeeded by Kumārapāla;
and Ajayapāla, who succeeded in A.D. 1174, was son of Mahipāla,
brother of Kumārapāla (_BG_, i. Part i. 194).] The mention of these
simultaneous intermarriages in three of the principal Rajput
monarchies of that day, namely, Dhar, Patan, and Chitor, is important,
not only as establishing fresh synchronisms, but as disclosing the
intercourse between the Bhattis and the more ancient princely families
of India. The period of Udayaditya Pramar has been established beyond
cavil (see _Trans. R.A.S._ vol. i. p. 223), and that of Siddhraj,
likewise, whose son and successor, Ajaipal, had but a short reign when
he was deposed by Kumarpal, whose date is also found from
inscriptions. It is a singular fact that all the Rajput dynasties of
these regions were established about the same epoch, namely, Patan by
the Chawaras, Chitor by the Guhilots, Delhi, refounded by the Tuars,
and the Bhatti principality by the descendant of Salbahan. This was in
the middle of the eighth century of Vikramaditya, when the older Hindu
governments were broken up. The admission of the Bhatti to intermarry
with their families proves one of two facts: either that they were
considered Rajputs, notwithstanding their being inhabitants of the
regions beyond the Indus; or, that the families mentioned, with which
they intermarried, were Indo-Scythic like themselves.
Footnote 7.2.44:
At every step we see, however meagre may be the outline, the
correctness of this historical sketch. It was, according to Ferishta,
in A.H. 555 (A.D. 1159 [1150], or S. 1215) that the prince of Ghor
conquered Ghazni, and immediately after overran Multan and Sind (see
Briggs, vol. i. p. 153); and doubtless it was on this occasion that
the Bhatti prince swore allegiance to Shihabu-d-din, and obtained the
force which drove his nephew from Lodorva, which being sacked by his
auxiliaries, he founded Jaisalmer in S. 1212. The three years’
discrepancy between the Muhammadan and Hindu dates is of little
consequence; but even this could be remedied, when we recollect that
the Samvat, according to Mr. Colebrooke, is liable to a variation of
ten years.
Footnote 7.2.45:
Tatta was not then in existence. It was founded about the middle of
the fifteenth century.
Footnote 7.2.46:
If there were no better support for the assumed descent of the Bhatti
founder of Jaisalmer from the Yadus of the Bharat than this prophecy,
we should be confirmed in our suspicion that they are a colony of the
Yuti, and that the Brahmans took advantage of the nominal resemblance
to incorporate them in the Chhattis Rajkula, or Thirty-six Royal
Races.
Footnote 7.2.47:
Lodorva remains in ruins; a journey thither might afford
subject-matter for the antiquary, and enable him to throw light upon
the origin of the Bhatti tribe. I omitted to place it in the Map; it
is ten miles N.W. of the present capital.
-----
CHAPTER 3
Having thus epitomized the Bhatti annals, from the expulsion of the
tribe from the Panjab, and the establishment of Tanot in the Indian
desert, in A.D. 731, to the foundation of the existing capital,
Jaisalmer, in A.D. 1156, we shall continue the sketch to the present
day, nearly in the language of the chronicle, adding explanatory notes
as we proceed.
=Retrospect of Bhatti History.=—The interval between the erection of the
castle of Tanot and the present time is exactly eleven hundred years;
during which the historical narrative, whatever may be its value, is at
least continuous, and the events recorded are corroborated, even in the
darkest period, by numerous synchronisms in the annals of the other
States; and viewed synoptically, it presents matter of deep interest to
the explorer of Indian history. The period of four hundred and
twenty-five years, embraced in the preceding chapter, is full of
incidents. It is a record of a people who once deemed their consequence
and their fame imperishable. And even were it less diversified by
anecdotes descriptive of manners, it would still possess claims to
interest as a simple relation of the gradual peopling of a great portion
of the Indian desert. We see tribes and cities disappearing; new races
and new capitals taking their place; and although not a syllable is
written which [246] bears directly upon religion, we can see,
incidentally, the analogy of these Indo-Scythic tribes, from Zabulistan
and Salbahana, with the Hindu, confirming what Manu says, that the
Sakas, Yavanas, Pahlavas, and the Khasas[7.3.1] of Central Asia, were
all Chhattris or Rajputs. We now proceed with the chronicle.
Jaisal, the founder of Jaisalmer, survived the change of capital only
twelve years. His elder son, Kailan, having given displeasure to the
Pahu minister, was expelled, and his younger brother placed upon the
_gaddi_.
=Rāwal Sālivāhan I.=—Salbahan, a name of celebrity in the annals,
renewed in the son of Jaisal, succeeded in S. 1224 (A.D. 1168). His
first expedition was against the Kathi tribe, who, under their leader,
Jagbhan, dwelt between the city of Jalor and the Aravalli.[7.3.2] The
Kathi Rao was killed, and his horses and camels were carried to
Jaisalmer. The fame of this exploit exalted the reputation of Salbahan.
He had three sons, Bijar, Banar, and Haso.
=Embassy from Badarināth.=—In the mountains of Badarinath, there was a
State whose princes were of the Jadon (Yadu) race, descended from the
first Salbahan at the period of the expulsion from Gajni.[7.3.3] At this
time, the prince of this State dying without issue, a deputation came to
Jaisalmer to obtain a prince to fill the vacant _gaddi_. Haso was
accordingly sent, but died just as he arrived. His wife, who was
pregnant, was taken with the pains of labour on the journey, and was
delivered of a son under the shade of a _palas_ tree, whence the child
was called Palasia. This infant succeeding, the _raj_ (principality) was
named after him Palasia.[7.3.4]
Proposals of marriage came from Mansi Deora of Sirohi.[7.3.5] The Rawal
left Jaisalmer [247] to the care of his eldest son Bijal. Soon after his
departure, the foster-brother (Dhabhai) of the young prince propagated
the report of the Rawal’s death in an encounter with a tiger, and
prompted Bijal to assume the dignity. Salbahan, on his return, finding
his seat usurped, and having in vain expostulated with his traitorous
son, proceeded to Khadal, of which Derawar is the capital, where he was
slain, with three hundred of his followers, in repelling an irruption of
the Balochs. Bijal did not long enjoy the dignity; having in a fit of
passion struck the Dhabhai, the blow was returned, upon which, stung
with shame and resentment, he stabbed himself with his dagger.
=Rāwal Kailan, _c._ A.D. 1200-19.=—Kailan, the elder brother of
Salbahan, who was expelled by the Pahus, was now (A.D. 1200) recalled,
and installed at the age of fifty. He had six sons, Chachakdeo, Palhan,
Jaichand, Pitamsi, Pitamchand, and Asrao. The second and third had
numerous issue, who are styled Jaser and Sihana Rajputs.
Khizr Khan Baloch, with five thousand men, at this time again crossed
the Mihran (Indus), and invaded the land of Khadal, which was the second
irruption since he slew Salbahan. Kailan marched against him at the head
of seven thousand Rajputs, and, after a severe engagement, slew the
Baloch leader and fifteen hundred of his men. Kailan ruled nineteen
years.
=Rāwal Chāchakdeo I., _c._ A.D. 1219-41.=—Chachakdeo succeeded, in S.
1275 (A.D. 1219). Soon after his accession, he carried on war against
the Chana Rajputs (now extinct), of whom he slew two thousand, capturing
fourteen thousand cows, and compelling the tribe to take refuge with the
Johyas. Soon after, the Rawal invaded the lands of Rana Armsi, prince of
the Sodhas, who, though taken by surprise, assembled four thousand
horse; but was defeated, and forced to fly for shelter to the walls of
his capital, Umarkot. The Puar was glad to obtain the absence of his foe
by the offer of his daughter in marriage.[7.3.6]
The Rathors, recently established in the land of Kher, had become
troublesome [248] neighbours; Chachak obtained the aid of the Sodha
troops to chastise them, and he proceeded to Jasal and Bhalotra, where
they were established; but Chhadu and his son Thida averted his wrath by
giving him a daughter to wife.[7.3.7]
Rawal Chachak ruled thirty-two years. He had only one son, Tej Rao, who
died at the age of forty-two, from the smallpox, leaving two sons,
Jethsi and Karan. To the youngest the Rawal was much attached; and
having convened the chiefs around his death-bed, he entreated they would
accede to his last wish, that his youngest grandson might be his
successor.
=Rāwal Karan Singh I., A.D. 1241-71.=—Karan having succeeded, his elder
brother, Jethsi, abandoned his country, and took service with the
Muhammadans in Gujarat. About this time, Muzaffar Khan, who occupied
Nagor with five thousand horse, committed great outrages. There was a
Bhumia of the Baraha tribe, named Bhagawatidas, who resided fifteen coss
from Nagor, and was master of one thousand five hundred horse. He had an
only daughter, who was demanded by the Khan, and being unwilling to
comply, and unable to resist, he resolved to abandon the country. For
this purpose he prepared carriages, in which he placed his family and
chattels, and at night proceeded towards Jaisalmer; but the Khan,
gaining intelligence of his motions, intercepted the convoy. A battle
ensued, in which four hundred of the Barahas were killed, and his
daughter and other females were carried off. The afflicted Baraha
continued his route to Jaisalmer, and related his distress to Rawal
Karan, who immediately put himself at the head of his followers,
attacked the Khan, whom he slew, with three thousand of his people, and
re-inducted the Bhumia in his possessions. Karan ruled twenty-eight
years, and was succeeded, in S. 1327, by his son,
=Rāwal Lākhansen, A.D. 1271-75.=—He was so great a simpleton, that when
the jackals howled at night, being told that it was from being cold, he
ordered quilted dresses (_daglas_) to be prepared for them. As the
howling still continued, although he was assured his orders had been
fulfilled, he commanded houses to be built for the animals in the royal
preserves (_ramna_), many of which yet remain. Lakhan was the
contemporary of Kanirdeo Sonigira, whose life was saved by his
(Lakhan’s) wife’s knowledge of omens. Lakhan was ruled by this Rani, who
was of the Sodha tribe. She invited her brethren from Umarkot; but the
madman, her husband, put [249] them to death, and threw their bodies
over the walls. He was allowed to rule four years, and was then replaced
by his son,
=Rāwal Pūnpāl, A.D. 1275-76.=—This prince was of a temper so violent
that the nobles dethroned him, and recalled the exiled Jethsi from
Gujarat. Punpal had a residence assigned him in a remote quarter of the
State. He had a son, Lakamsi, who had a son called Rao Raningdeo, who by
a stratagem pointed out by a Kharal[7.3.8] Rajput, took Marot from the
Johyas, and Pugal from the Thoris, thieves by profession, whose chief,
styled Rao, he made captive; and in Pugal he settled his family. Rao
Raning had a son called Sadul, who alternately bathed in the sea of
pleasure, and struggled in that of action: to their retreat the father
and son conveyed the spoils seized from all around them.
=Rāwal Jeth Singh I., A.D. 1276-94.=—Jethsi obtained the _gaddi_ in S.
1332 (A.D. 1276). He had two sons, Mulraj and Ratansi. Deoraj, the son
of Mulraj, espoused the daughter of the Sonigira chief of Jalor.
Muhammad [Khuni][7.3.9] Padshah invaded the dominions of Rana Rupsi, the
Parihar prince of Mandor,[7.3.10] who, when defeated, fled with his
twelve daughters, and found refuge with the Rawal, who gave him
Baru[7.3.11] as a residence.
=Alāu-d-din attacks Jaisalmer.=—Deoraj, by his Sonigira wife, had three
sons, Janghan, Sarwan, and Hamir. This Hamir was a mighty warrior, who
attacked Kumpa Sen of Mewa,[7.3.12] and plundered his lands. He had
issue three sons, Jetha, Lunkaran, and Mairu. At this period, Ghori
Alau-d-din commenced the war against the castles of India. The tribute
of Tatta and Multan, consisting of fifteen hundred horses and fifteen
hundred mules laden with treasure and valuables, was at Bakhar in
progress to the king at Delhi. The sons of Jethsi determined to lay an
ambush and capture the tribute. Disguised as grain-merchants, with seven
thousand horse and twelve hundred camels, they set out on their
expedition, and on the banks of the Panjnad found the convoy, escorted
by four hundred Mogul and the like number of Pathan horse. The Bhattis
encamped near the convoy; and in the night they rose upon and slew the
escort, carrying the treasure to Jaisalmer. The survivors carried the
news to the king, who prepared to punish this insult. When tidings
reached Rawal Jethsi that the king was encamped on the Anasagar at
Ajmer, he prepared Jaisalmer for defence. He laid in immense stores of
grain, and deposited all round the ramparts of the fort large round
stones to hurl on the besiegers. All the aged, the infirm, and his
female grandchildren were [250] removed into the interior of the desert,
while the country around the capital for many miles was laid waste, and
the towns made desolate. The Rawal, with his two elder sons and five
thousand warriors, remained inside for the defence of the castle, while
Deoraj and Hamir formed an army to act against the enemy from without.
The sultan in person remained at Ajmer and sent forward an immense force
of Khorasanis and Kuraishes, cased in steel armour, “who rolled on like
the clouds in Bhadon.” The fifty-six bastions were manned, and three
thousand seven hundred heroes distributed amongst them for their
defence, while two thousand remained in reserve to succour the points
attacked. During the first week that the besiegers formed their
entrenchments, seven thousand Musalmans were slain, and Mir Muhabbat and
Ali Khan remained on the field of battle. For two years the invaders
were confined to their camp by Deoraj and Hamir, who kept the field,
after cutting off their supplies, which came from Mandor, while the
garrison was abundantly furnished from Khadal, Barmer, and Dhat. Eight
years[7.3.13] had the siege lasted, when Rawal Jethsi died, and his body
was burnt inside the fort.
During this lengthened siege, Ratansi had formed a friendship with the
Nawab Mahbub Khan, and they had daily friendly meetings under a
khejra[7.3.14] tree, between the advanced posts, each attended by a few
followers. They played at chess together, and interchanged expressions
of mutual esteem. But when duty called them to oppose each other in
arms, the whole world was enamoured with their heroic courtesy. Jethsi
had ruled eighteen years when he died.
=Rāwal Mūlrāj III., A.D. 1294-95.=—Mulraj III., in S. 1350 (A.D. 1294),
ascended the _gaddi_ surrounded by foes. On this occasion, the customary
rejoicings on installation took place at the moment when the two
friends, Ratansi and Mahbub Khan, had met, as usual, under the khejra
tree. The cause of rejoicing being explained to the Nawab, he observed
that the Sultan had heard of, and was offended with, these meetings, to
which he attributed the protracted defence of the castle, and acquainted
Ratansi that next day a general assault was commanded, which he should
lead in person. The attack took place; it was fierce, but the defence
was obstinate, and the assailants were beaten back with the loss of nine
thousand men. But the foe obtained reinforcements, and towards the
conclusion of the year the garrison was reduced to the greatest
privations, and the blockade being perfect, Mulraj assembled his kinsmen
and thus addressed them: “For so many years [251] we have defended our
dwellings; but our supplies are expended, and there is no passage for
more. What is to be done?” The chiefs, Sahar and Bikamsi, replied, “A
_sakha_ must take place; we must sacrifice ourselves”: but that same day
the royal army, unaware of the distress of the besieged, retreated.
=The Sati: Johar.=—The friend of Ratansi had a younger brother, who, on
the retreat of the royal forces, was carried inside the fort, when,
seeing the real state of things, he escaped and conveyed intelligence of
it, upon which the siege was renewed. Mulraj reproached his brother as
the cause of this evil, and asked what was fit to be done? to which
Ratansi replied, “There is but one path open: to immolate the females,
to destroy by fire and water whatever is destructible, and to bury what
is not; then open wide the gates, and sword in hand rush upon the foe,
and thus attain Swarga.” The chiefs were assembled; all were unanimous
to make Jaisalnagar resplendent by their deeds, and preserve the honour
of the Jadon race. Mulraj thus replied: “You are of a warlike race, and
strong are your arms in the cause of your prince; what heroes excel you,
who thus tread in the Chhatri’s path? In battle, not even the elephant
could stand before you. For the maintenance of my honour the sword is in
your hands; let Jaisalmer be illumined by its blows upon the foe.”
Having thus inspired the chiefs and men, Mulraj and Ratan repaired to
the palace of their queens. They told them to take the _sohag_,[7.3.15]
and prepare to meet in heaven, while they gave up their lives in defence
of their honour and their faith. Smiling, the Sodha Rani replied, “This
night we shall prepare, and by the morning’s light we shall be
inhabitants of Swarga” (heaven); and thus it was with the chiefs and all
their wives. The night was passed together for the last time in
preparation for the awful morn. It came; ablutions and prayers were
finished, and at the Rajdwara[7.3.16] were convened _bala_, _praurha_,
and _briddhu_.[7.3.17] They bade a last farewell to all their kin; the
Johar commenced, and twenty-four thousand females, from infancy to old
age, surrendered their lives, some by the sword, others in the volcano
of fire. Blood flowed in torrents, while the smoke of the pyre ascended
to the heavens: not one feared to die, every valuable was consumed with
them, not the worth of a straw was preserved for the foe. This work
done, the brothers looked upon the spectacle with horror. Life was now a
burden, and they prepared to quit it. They purified themselves with
water, paid adoration to the divinity, made gifts [252] to the poor,
placed a branch of the Tulsi[7.3.18] in their casques, the
Salagram[7.3.18] round their neck; and having cased themselves in armour
and put on the saffron robe, they bound the _mor_[7.3.19] (crown) around
their heads, and embraced each other for the last time. Thus they
awaited the hour of battle. Three thousand eight hundred warriors, with
faces red with wrath, prepared to die with their chiefs.
Ratansi had two sons, named Gharsi and Kanar, the eldest only twelve
years of age. He wished to save them from the impending havoc, and
applied to his courteous foeman. The Muslim chief swore he would protect
them, and sent two confidential servants to receive the trust; to whom,
bidding them a last farewell, their father consigned them. When they
reached the royal camp they were kindly welcomed by the Nawab, who,
putting his hand upon their heads, soothed them, and appointed two
Brahmans to guard, feed, and instruct them.
On the morrow, the army of the Sultan advanced to the assault. The gates
were thrown wide, and the fight began. Ratan was lost in the sea of
battle; but one hundred and twenty Amirs fell before his sword ere he
lay in the field. Mulraj plied his lance on the bodies of the
barbarians: the field swam in blood. The unclean spirits were gorged
with slaughter; but at length the Jadon chief fell, with seven hundred
of the choice of his kin. With his death the battle closed; the victors
ascended the castle, and Mahbub Khan caused the bodies of the brothers
to be carried from the field and burned. The _sakha_ took place in S.
1351, or A.D. 1295. Deoraj, who commanded the force in the field, was
carried off by a fever. The royal garrison kept possession of the castle
during two years, and at length blocked up the gateways, and dismantled
and abandoned the place, which remained long deserted, for the Bhattis
had neither means to repair the _kunguras_ (battlements) nor men to
defend them [253].
-----
Footnote 7.3.1:
[Manu, _Laws_, x. 44, which does not name the Khasas.] There is a race
in the desert, now Muhammadan, and called Khosas. Elphinstone mentions
the Khasa-Khel. Kashgar is ‘the region of the Khasas,’ the Casia Regia
of Ptolemy [?]. [The Khosas are a Muhammadan tribe, driven from Sind
in A.D. 1786, who lived beside the Rann of Cutch, and levied blackmail
on their neighbours. They are believed to be a branch of the Rind, and
it is improbable that they can be connected with the Khasas of Manu
(_Laws_, x. 22).]
Footnote 7.3.2:
We can scarcely refuse our assent to the belief that the Kathi or
Katti tribe, here mentioned, is the remnant of the nation which so
manfully opposed Alexander. It was then located about Multan, at this
period occupied by the Langahas. The colony attacked by the Bhatti was
near the Aravalli, in all probability a predatory band from the region
they peopled and gave their name to, Kathiawar, in the Surashtra
peninsula. [The Kāthis were probably a nomadic Central Asian tribe,
driven down the valley of the Indus by the tide of early Muhammadan
invasions. Their appearance in Jaisalmer at the end of the twelfth
century A.D. probably marks a stage in their southerly progress.
Thence they seem to have moved into Mālwa, thence to Cutch, and
finally to Kāthiāwār (_BG_, ix. Part i. 252 ff., viii. 128).]
Footnote 7.3.3:
Mr. Elphinstone enumerates the Jadon as a subdivision of the
Yusufzais, one of the great Afghan tribes, who were originally located
about Kabul and Ghazni. I could not resist surmising the probability
of the term Jadon, applied to a subdivision of the Afghan race,
originating from the Hindu-Scythic Jadon, or Yadu; whence the boasted
descent of the Afghans from Saul, king of the Jews (Yahudis). The
customs of the Afghans would support this hypothesis: “The Afghans
(says the Emperor Babur, p. 159), when reduced to extremities in war,
come into the presence of their enemy with grass between their teeth,
being as much as to say, ‘I am your ox.’” This custom is entirely
Rajput, and ever recurring in inscriptions recording victories. They
have their bards or poets in like manner, of whom Mr. Elphinstone
gives an interesting account. In features, also, they resemble the
Northern Rajputs, who have generally aquiline noses, or, as Mr.
Elphinstone expresses it in the account of his journey through the
desert, “Jewish features”; though this might tempt one to adopt the
converse of my deduction, and say that these Yadus of Gajni were, with
the Afghans, also of Yahudi origin: from the lost tribes of Israel.
[The Jadūn, as Rose writes their name, are not Yūsufzais, but live S.
of them, and have no connexion with the Rājput Jādons (_Glossary_, ii.
272 f., iii. 254).]
Footnote 7.3.4:
See Mr. Elphinstone’s map for the position of the Jadon branch of the
Yusufzais at the foot of the Siwalik hills.
Footnote 7.3.5:
[“If this is correct, the date of the foundation of Jaisalmer must be
wrong, for Mān Singh’s father is known to have been alive in 1249.
Moreover the Deora sept did not exist, as it took the name from Mān
Singh’s son Deoraj” (Erskine iii. A. 11).]
Footnote 7.3.6:
In this single passage we have revealed the tribe (_got_), race
(_kula_), capital, and proper name of the prince of Dhat. The Sodha
tribe, as before stated, is an important branch of the Pramara (Puar)
race, and with the Umras and Sumras gave dynasties to the valley of
Sind from the most remote period. The Sodhas, I have already observed,
were probably the Sogdoi of Alexander, occupying Upper Sind when the
Macedonian descended that stream. The Sumra dynasty is mentioned by
Ferishta from ancient authorities, but the Muhammadan historians knew
nothing, and cared nothing, about Rajput tribes. It is from such
documents as these, scattered throughout the annals of these
principalities, and from the ancient Hindu epic poems, that I have
concentrated the “Sketches of the Rajput Tribes,” introductory to the
first volume, which, however slight they appear, cost more research
than the rest of the book. I write this note chiefly for the
information of the patriarch of oriental lore on the Continent, the
learned and ingenious De Sacy. If this mentor ask, “Where are now the
Sodhas?” I reply, the ex-prince of Umarkot, with whose ancestors
Humayun took refuge—in whose capital in the desert the great Akbar was
born—and who could on the spur of the moment oppose four thousand
horse to invasion, has only one single town, that of Chor, left to
him. The Rathors, who, in the time of Armsi Rana and Rawal Chachak,
were hardly known in Marudes, have their flag waving on the
battlements of the ‘immortal castle’ (Amarkuta), and the Amirs of Sind
have incorporated the greater part of Dhat with their State of
Haidarabad. [Umarkot is not the ‘immortal castle,’ but the fort of
Umar, chief of the Sūmra tribe (_IGI_, xxiv. 118).]
Footnote 7.3.7:
To those interested in the migration of these tribes, it must be
gratifying to see these annals thus synchronically corroborating each
other. About two centuries before this, in the reign of Dusaj, when
the Bhatti capital was at Lodorva, an attack was made on the land of
Kher, then occupied by the Guhilots, who were, as related in the
Annals of Marwar, dispossessed by the Rathors. None but an inquirer
into these annals of the desert tribes can conceive the satisfaction
arising from such confirmation.
Footnote 7.3.8:
This tribe is unknown to Central India. [They are a branch of the
Parihārs.]
Footnote 7.3.9:
[Alāu-d-dīn.]
Footnote 7.3.10:
The title, tribe, and capital of this race show that the Bhattis were
intimately connected with the neighbouring States.
Footnote 7.3.11:
[About 100 miles N.N.E. of Jodhpur city.]
Footnote 7.3.12:
[In Mallāni, the ‘cradle of the Rāthors.’]
Footnote 7.3.13:
This can mean nothing more than that desultory attacks were carried on
against the Bhatti capital. It is certain that Ala never carried his
arms in person against Jaisalmer. [It is impossible to reconcile the
dates, and this siege is not mentioned by Muhammadan historians. It is
said to have lasted from A.D. 1286 to 1295. Balban reigned
1266-1286-7, and Alāu-d-dīn did not ascend the throne till 1296. Much
of the narrative is a fiction of the Bhatti bards.]
Footnote 7.3.14:
[_Prosopis spicigera._]
Footnote 7.3.15:
Sohagan, one who becomes Sati previous to her lord’s death; Duhagan,
who follows him after death.
Footnote 7.3.16:
Literally, ‘the royal gate’; an allusion to the female apartments, or
Rajloka.
Footnote 7.3.17:
_Bala_, is under sixteen; _praurha_, middle-aged; _briddhu_, when
forty.
Footnote 7.3.18:
The funereal qualities of the tulsi plant, and the emblematic
Salagram, or stone found in the Gandak River, have been often
described.
Footnote 7.3.19:
On two occasions the Rajput chieftain wears the _mor_ [_maur_], or
‘coronet’: on his marriage, and when going to die in battle; symbolic
of his nuptials with the Apsaras, or ‘fair of heaven.’
-----
CHAPTER 4
=Rāthor Settlement at Jaisalmer. Dūda Rāwal, A.D. 1295-1306.=—Some years
subsequent to this disastrous event in the Bhatti annals, Jagmall, son
of Maloji Rathor, chief of Mewa, attempted a settlement amidst the ruins
of Jaisalmer, and brought thither a large force, with seven hundred
carts of provisions. On hearing this, the Bhatti chiefs, Dudu and
Tilaksi, the sons of Jaisar, assembled their kinsmen, surprised the
Rathors, drove them from the castle, and captured the supplies. Dudu,
for this exploit, was elected Rawal, and commenced the repairs of
Jaisalmer. He had five sons. Tilaksi, his brother, was renowned for his
exploits. He despoiled the Baloch, the Mangalea, the Meawa, and the
Deoras and Sonagiras of Abu and Jalor felt his power. He even extended
his raids to Ajmer, and carried off the stud of Firoz Shah from the
Anasagar (lake), where they were accustomed to be watered.[7.4.1] This
indignity provoked another attack upon Jaisalmer, attended with the same
disastrous results. Again the _sakha_ was performed, in which sixteen
thousand [254] females[7.4.2] were destroyed; and Dudu, with Tilaksi and
seventeen hundred of the clan, fell in battle, after he had occupied the
_gaddi_ ten years.
=Gharsi Rāwal, A.D. 1306-35. Jaisalmer restored.=—On the death of Rawal
Dudu, in S. 1362 (A.D. 1306), the young princes, Gharsi and Kanar, by
the death of their patron Mahbub, were left to the protection of his
sons, Zulfikar and Ghazi Khan. Kanar went privately to Jaisalmer, and
Gharsi obtained leave to proceed westward to the Mewa tract, where he
married Bimaladevi, a widow, sister to the Rathor, who had been
betrothed[7.4.3] to the Deora. While engaged in these nuptials, he was
visited by his relation Soningdeo, a man of gigantic strength, who
agreed to accompany him on his return to Delhi. The king made trial of
his force, by giving him to string an iron bow sent by the king of
Khorasan, which the nervous Bhatti not only bent but broke. The invasion
of Delhi by Timur Shah[7.4.4] having occurred at this time, the services
of Gharsi were so conspicuous that he obtained a grant of his hereditary
dominions, with permission to re-establish Jaisalmer. With his own
kindred, and the aid of the vassals of his friend Jagmall of Mewa, he
soon.restored order, and had an efficient force at command. Hamir and
his clansmen gave their allegiance to Gharsi, but the sons of Jaisar
were headstrong.
=The Adoption of Kehar. Rāwal Gharsi assassinated.=—Deoraj, who married
the daughter of Rupra, Rana of Mandor, had a son named Kehar, who, when
Jaisalmer was about to be invested by the troops of the Sultan, was
conveyed to Mandor with his mother. When only twelve years of age, he
used to accompany the cow-herds of the old Rao’s kine, and his favourite
amusement was penning up the calves with twigs of the _ak_, to imitate
the picketing of horses. One day, tired of this occupation, young Kehar
fell asleep upon the hole of a serpent, and the reptile issuing
therefrom, arose and spread its hood over him as he slept. A Charan
(bard, or genealogist), passing that way, reported the fact and its
import immediately to the Rana, who, proceeding to the spot, found it
was his own grandson whom fate had thus pointed out for
sovereignty.[7.4.5] Gharsi, having no offspring by Bimaladevi, proposed
to her to adopt a son. All the Bhatti youth were assembled, but none
equalled Kehar, who [255] was chosen. But the sons of Jaisar were
displeased, and conspired to obtain the _gaddi_. At this time, Rawal
Gharsi was in the daily habit of visiting a tank, which he was
excavating, and they seized an occasion to assassinate him; whereupon,
in order to defeat their design, Bimaladevi immediately had Kehar
proclaimed. The widowed queen of Gharsi, with the view of securing the
completion of an object which her lord had much at heart, namely,
finishing the lake Gharsisar, as well as to ensure protection to her
adopted son Kehar, determined to protract the period of self-immolation;
but when six months had elapsed, and both these objects were attained,
she finished her days on the pyre. Bimaladevi named the children of
Hamir as the adopted sons and successors of Kehar. These sons were Jetha
and Lunkaran.
The coco-nut was sent by Kumbha, Rana of Chitor, to Jetha. The Bhatti
prince marched for Mewar, and when within twelve coss of the Aravalli
hills, was joined by the famous Sankhla Miraj, chief of Salbahni. Next
morning, when about to resume the march, a partridge began to call from
the right; a bad omen, which was interpreted by the brother-in-law of
the Sankhla, deeply versed in the science of the Suguni and the language
of birds.[7.4.6] Jetha drew the rein of his horse, and to avert the
evil, halted that day. Meanwhile, the partridge was caught and found to
be blind of an eye, and its ovary quite filled. The next morning, as
soon as they had taken horse, a tigress began to roar, and the Suguni
chieftain was again called upon to expound the omen. He replied that the
secrets of great houses should not be divulged, but he desired them to
dispatch a youth, disguised as a female Nai (barber class), to
Kumbhalmer, who there would learn the cause. The youth gained admission
to ‘the ruby of Mewar’ (Lala Mewari), who was anointing for the
nuptials. He saw things were not right, and returning made his report;
upon hearing which, the Bhatti prince married Marad, the daughter of the
Sankhla chief. The Rana was indignant at this insult, but a sense of
shame prevented his resenting it; and instead of proclaiming the slight,
he offered his daughter’s hand to the famous Khichi prince, Achaldas of
Gagraun, and it was accepted.[7.4.7] Jetha met his death, together with
his brother Lunkaran, and his brother-in-law, in an attempt to surprise
Pugal: he fell with a hundred and twenty followers. When the old Rao,
Raningdeo, discovered against whom he had thus successfully defended
himself, he clad himself in black garments [256], and in atonement
performed pilgrimage to all the shrines in India.[7.4.8] On his return,
he was forgiven and condoled with by Kehar.
=Lachhman Rāwal, _c._ A.D. 1402.=—Kehar had eight sons: (1) Somaji, who
had a numerous offspring, called the Soma-Bhattis; (2) Lachhman;[7.4.9]
(3) Kailan, who forcibly seized Bikampur, the appanage of his elder
brother Soma, who departed with all his _basai_,[7.4.10] and settled at
Girab; (4) Kilkaran; (5) Satal, who gave his name to an ancient town,
and called it Satalmer. The names of the rest were Bija, Tana, and
Tejsi.
When the sons of Raningdeo became converts to Islam, in order to avenge
their father’s feud with the Rathor prince of Nagor, they forfeited
their inheritance of Pugal and Marot, and thenceforward mixed with the
Aboharia Bhattis, and their descendants are termed Mumin Musalman
Bhatti. On this event, Kailan, the third son of the Rawal, took
possession of the forfeited lands, and besides Bikampur, regained
Derawar, which had been conquered by their ancient foes, the Dahya
Rajputs.
Kailan built a fort on the Bias, called, after his father, Kara, or
Karor, which again brought the Bhattis into collision with the Johyas
and Langahas, whose chief, Amir Khan Korai, attacked him, but was
defeated. Kailan became the terror of the Chahils,[7.4.11] the
Mohils,[7.4.11] and Johyas,[7.4.11] who lived in this quarter, and his
authority extended as far as the Panjnad. Kailan married into the Samma
family of Jam,[7.4.12] and [257] arbitrated their disputes on
succession, which had caused much bloodshed. Shujaat Jam, whom he
supported, accompanied him to Marot, on whose death, two years after,
Kailan possessed himself of all the Samma territory, when the Sind River
became the boundary of his dominion. Kailan died at the age of
seventy-two, and was succeeded by[7.4.13]
=Chāchakdeo Rāwal, _c._ A.D. 1448.=—Chachakdeo made Marot his
headquarters, to cover his territories from the attacks of Multan, which
took umbrage at the return of the Bhattis across the Gara. The chief of
Multan united in a league all the ancient foes of the Bhattis, the
Langahas, the Johyas, the Khichis, and all the tribes of that region.
Chachak formed an army of seventeen thousand horse and fourteen thousand
foot, and crossed the Bias to meet his foes. The encounter was
desperate; but the Bhattis were victorious, and returned with rich spoil
to Marot. In the year following another battle took place, in which
seven hundred and forty Bhattis were slain, and three thousand of the
men of Multan. By this success, the conquests of Chachak were extended,
and he left a garrison (_thana_) under his son in Asinikot, beyond the
Bias, and returned to Pugal. He then attacked Maipal, chief of the
Dhundis,[7.4.14] whom he defeated. After this victory he repaired to
Jaisalmer, to visit his brother Lachhman, reserving the produce of the
lands dependent on Asinikot[7.4.15] for his expenses at court. On his
return home by Baru, he was accosted by a Janjua Rajput,[7.4.16]
pasturing an immense flock of goats, who presented the best of his
flock, and demanded protection against the raids of Birjang Rathor. This
chief had wrested the celebrated fortress of Satalmer,[7.4.17] the abode
of wealthy merchants, from a Bhatti chief, and extended his forays far
into the desert, and the Janjua was one of those who had suffered by his
success [258]. Not long after Rao Chachak had passed by the pastures of
the Janjua, he received a visit from him, to complain of another inroad,
which had carried off the identical goat, his offering. Chachak
assembled his kinsmen, and formed an alliance with Shumar Khan, chief of
the Seta tribe,[7.4.18] who came with three thousand horse. It was the
custom of the Rathors of Satalmer to encamp their horse at a tank some
distance from the city, to watch, while the chief citizens used daily to
go abroad. Chachak surprised and made prisoners of the whole. The
bankers and men of wealth offered large sums for their ransom; but he
would not release them from bondage, except on condition of their
settling in the territory of Jaisalmer. Three hundred and sixty-five
heads of families embraced this alternative, and hence Jaisalmer dates
the influx of her wealth. They were distributed over the principal
cities, Derawar, Pugal, Marot, etc.[7.4.19] The three sons of the Rathor
were also made prisoners; the two youngest were released, but Mera, the
eldest, was detained as a hostage for his father’s good conduct. Chachak
dismissed his ally, the Seta chief, whose granddaughter, Sonaldevi, he
married. The father of the bride, Haibat Khan,[7.4.20] gave with her in
_daeja_ (dower) fifty horses, thirty-five slaves, four palkis, and two
hundred female camels, and with her Chachak returned to Marot.
=War with the Khokhars.=—Two years after this, Chachak made war on
Tharraj Khokhar, the chief of Pilibanga,[7.4.21] on account of a horse
stolen from a Bhatti. The Khokhars were defeated and plundered; but his
old enemies the Langahas, taking advantage of this occasion, made head
against Chachak, and drove his garrison from the new possession of
Dhuniapur.[7.4.22] Disease at length seized on Rawal Chachak, after a
long course of victorious warfare, in which he subdued various tracts of
country, even to the heart of the Panjab. In this state he determined to
die as he had lived, with arms in his hands; but having [259] no foe
near with whom to cope, he sent an embassy to the Langaha prince of
Multan, to beg, as a last favour, the Juddhdan, or ‘gift of battle,’
that his soul might escape by the steel of his foeman, and not fall a
sacrifice to slow disease.[7.4.23] The prince, suspecting treachery,
hesitated; but the Bhatti messenger pledged his word that his master
only wished an honourable death, and that he would only bring five
hundred men to the combat. The challenge being accepted, the Rawal
called his clansmen around him, and on recounting what he had done,
seven hundred select Rajputs, who had shared in all his victories,
volunteered to take the last field, and make Sankalp (oblation) of their
lives with their leader. Previous to setting forth, he arranged his
affairs. His son Gaj Singh, by the Seta Rani, he sent with her to her
father’s house. He had five other sons, namely, Kumbha, Barsal, Bhimdeo
(by Lala Rani, of the Sodha tribe), Rata and Randhir, whose mother was
Surajdevi, of Chauhan race. Barsal, his eldest son, he made heir to all
his dominions, except the land of Khadal (whose chief town is Derawar),
which he bestowed upon Randhir, and to both he gave the _tika_, making
them separate States. Barsal marched to Kahror,[7.4.24] his capital, at
the head of seventeen thousand men.
=Heroic Death of Rāwal Chachakdeo.=—Meanwhile, Rawal Chachak marched to
Dhuniapur, “to part with life.” There he heard that the prince of Multan
was within two coss. His soul was rejoiced; he performed his ablutions,
worshipped the sword[7.4.25] and the gods, bestowed charity, and
withdrew his thoughts from this world.
The battle lasted four gharis (two hours), and the Jadon prince fell
with all his kin after performing prodigies of valour. Two thousand
Khans fell beneath their swords; rivers of blood flowed in the field;
but the Bhatti gained the abode of Indra, who shared his throne with the
hero. The king crossed the Bias, and returned to Multan.
While Randhir was performing at Derawar the rites of the twelve days of
_matam_, or ‘mourning,’ his elder brother, Kumbha, afflicted with
insanity, rushed into the assembly and swore to avenge his father’s
death. That day he departed, accompanied by a single slave, and reached
the prince’s camp. It was surrounded by a [260] ditch eleven yards wide,
over which the Bhatti leaped his horse in the dead of night, reached the
harem, and cut off the head of Kalu Shah, with which he rejoined his
brethren at Derawar. Barsal re-established Dhuniapur, and then went to
Kahror. His old foes, the Langahas, under Haibat Khan, again attacked
him, but they were defeated with great slaughter. At the same time,
Husain Khan Baloch invaded Bikampur.[7.4.26]
=Rāwal Bersi, _c._ A.D. 1436-40.=—Rawal Bersi,[7.4.27] who at this time
occupied the _gaddi_ of Jaisalmer, went forth to meet Rao Barsal on his
return from his expedition in the Panjab. In S. 1530 (A.D. 1474) he made
the gates and palace of Bikampur.
We may, in this place, desert the literal narrative of the chronicle;
what follows is a record of similar border-feuds and petty wars, between
‘the sons of Kailan’[7.4.28] and the chiefs of the Panjab, alternately
invaders and invaded, which is pregnant with mighty words and gallant
deeds, but yielding no new facts of historical value. At length the
numerous offspring of Kailan separated, and divided amongst them the
lands on both sides of the Gara; and as Sultan Babur soon after this
period made a final conquest of Multan from the Langahas, and placed
therein his own governor, in all probability the Bhatti possessors of
Kahrorkot and Dhuniapur, as well as Pugal and Marot (now Muhammadans),
exchanged their faith (sanctioned even by Manu) for the preservation of
their estates.[7.4.29] The bard is so much occupied with this Pugal
branch that the chronicle appears almost devoted solely to them.