He passes from the main stem, Rawal Bersi, to Rawals Jeth, Nunkaran,

Bhim, Manohardas, to Sabal Singh, five generations, with little further

notice than the mere enumeration of their issue. With this last prince,

Sabal Singh, an important change occurred in the political condition of

the Bhattis [261].

-----

Footnote 7.4.1:

[If the dates are approximately correct, this was Jalālu-d-dīn Fīroz

Shāh, Sultān of Delhi, A.D. 1290-96.]

Footnote 7.4.2:

The Rajputs, by their exterminating _sakhas_, facilitated the views of

the Muhammadans. In every State we read of these horrors.

Footnote 7.4.3:

The mere act of being betrothed disqualifies from a second marriage;

the affianced becomes a _rand_ (widow), though a _kumari_ (maid).

Footnote 7.4.4:

Even these anachronisms are proofs of the fidelity of these Annals.

Ignorant native scribes, aware but of one great Moghul invasion,

consider the invader to be Timur; but there were numerous Moghul

invasions during the reign of Alau-d-din. In all probability that for

which the services of the Bhatti prince obtained him the restoration

of his dominions was that of Ibak Khan, general of the king of

Transoxiana, who invaded India in A.H. 705 (A.D. 1305), and was so

signally defeated that only three thousand out of fifty-seven thousand

horse escaped the sword, and these were made prisoners and trod to

death by elephants, when pillars of skulls were erected to commemorate

the victory.—See Briggs’ Ferishta, vol. i. p. 363 f. [Elliot-Dowson

iii. 199.]

Footnote 7.4.5:

[Another version of a common folk-tale (Vol. I. 342).]

Footnote 7.4.6:

It is scarcely necessary to repeat that this is a free translation of

the chronicle.

Footnote 7.4.7:

The Khichi prince, we may suppose, had no follower skilled in

omens—they lived very happily, as appears by the Khichi chronicle, and

she bore him a son, who was driven from Gagraun. The scandal

propagated against the ‘ruby of Mewar’ was no doubt a ruse of the

Sankhla chief, as the conclusion shows. However small the intrinsic

worth of these anecdotes, they afford links of synchronisms, which

constitute the value of the annals of all these States.

Footnote 7.4.8:

Sadhu was the son and heir of Raningdeo, and it was from this portion

of the Bhatti annals I extracted that singular story, related at p.

730, to illustrate the influence which the females of Rajputana have

on national manners. The date of this tragical event was S. 1462,

according to the Bhatti annals; and Rana Mokal, the contemporary of

Rawal Jeth and Rao Raningdeo, was on the throne of Mewar from S. 1454

to S. 1475. The annals of this State (Vol. I. p. 331) notice the

marriage of the ‘Ruby’ to Dhiraj, son of Achaldas, but say nothing on

the other point. A vague recollection of some matrimonial insult being

offered evidently yet prevails, for when a marriage was contracted in

A.D. 1821, through the Author’s intervention, between the Rana of

Udaipur’s daughter and the present Rawal Gaj Singh of Jaisalmer, it

was given out that there was no memorial of any marriage-alliance

between the two houses. After all, it may be a vainglorious invention

of the Bhatti annalist.

Footnote 7.4.9:

[The date of Lachhman Rāwal is uncertain. Inscriptions at Jaisalmer

mention him as reigning in A.D. 1402 and 1416 (Erskine iii. B. 9).]

Footnote 7.4.10:

The term _basai_ has been explained in Vol. I. p. 206. The Basai

is a slave in the mildest sense; one who in distress sells his

liberty. His master cuts the _choti_, or lock of hair, from the centre

of the head, as a mark of bondage. They are transferable, like cattle.

This custom prevails more in the desert States than in central

Rajwara; there every great man has his Basai. Shyam Singh Champawat of

Pokaran had two hundred when he fled to Jaipur, and they all fell with

him fighting against the Mahrattas. All castes, Brahmans and Rajputs,

become Basais; they can redeem their liberty by purchase.

Footnote 7.4.11:

These three tribes are either extinct, or were lost on becoming

proselytes to Islam.

Footnote 7.4.12:

The Sama or Samma tribe, which is well known in Muhammadan history, as

having given a dynasty to Sind in modern times, is a great branch of

the Yadus, and descended from Samba, son of Krishna; and while the

other branch colonized Zabulistan, maintaining the original name of

Yadus, the sons of Samba made his name the patronymic in Seistan and

the lower valley of the Indus. Samma-ka-kot, or Sammanagari, was the

capital, which yet exists, and doubtless originated the Minnagara of

the Greeks. Sambos, the opponent of Alexander, it is fair to infer,

was the chief of the Samma tribe. Samba, meaning ‘of, or belonging to,

Sham or Syama’ (an epithet of Krishna, from his dark complexion), was

son of Jambuvati, one of the eight wives of this deified Yadu. The

Jarejas of Cutch and Jams of Sind and Saurashtra are of the same

stock. The Sind-Samma dynasty, on the loss of their faith and coming

into contact with Islam, to which they became proselytes, were eager

to adopt a pedigree which might give them importance in the eyes of

their conquerors; _Sam_ was transformed into _Jam_, and the Persian

king, Jamshīd, was adopted as the patriarch of the Sammas, in lieu of

the legitimate Samba. Ferishta gives an account of this dynasty, but

was ignorant of their origin. He says, “The Zemindars of Sinde were

originally of two tribes or families, Somuna and Soomura; and the

chief of the former was distinguished by the appellation of

Jam.”—Briggs’ Ferishta, vol. iv. p. 424. The historian admits they

were Hindus until A.H. 782 (A.D. 1380, S. 1436); a point of little

doubt, as we see the Bhatti prince intermarrying with this family

about twenty years subsequent even to the date assigned by Ferishta

for their proselytism. I may here again state, once for all, that I

append these notes in order not to interfere with the text, which is

abridged from the original chronicle.

Footnote 7.4.13:

It is said that Ranmall succeeded; but this was only to the northern

portion, his appanage: he lived but two months.

Footnote 7.4.14:

Probably a branch of the Panwārs (Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 240).

Footnote 7.4.15:

Position unknown, unless it be the Tchin-kot of D’Anville at the

confluence of the river of Kabul with the Indus. There is no doubt

that this castle of the Bhatti prince was in the Panjab; and coupled

with his alliance with the chief of Sehat or Swat, that it is the

Tchin-kot, or Ashnagar of that celebrated geographer, whence the

Acesines of the Greeks. [The Acesines or Chīnāb is the Vedik Asikni.]

Footnote 7.4.16:

I may here repeat that the Janjūa or Janjūba and Johya were no doubt

branches of the same race; the Janjūha of Babur, who locates them

about the mountains of Jud. [(Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 353 f.; _ASR_, ii.

17).]

Footnote 7.4.17:

Now belonging to Marwar, and on its north-western frontier; but I

believe in ruins. [Near Pokaran, 85 miles N.W. of Jodhpur city. It is

in ruins.]

Footnote 7.4.18:

Most likely the Swatis, or people of Swat, described by Mr.

Elphinstone (Vol. I. p. 506) as of Indian origin, and as

possessing a kingdom from the Hydaspes to Jalalabad, the Souastene of

Ptolemy. [Souastēnē is the basin of the Souastos, the river of Swāt,

the original form of the name being Subhavastu, which, by the usual

mode of contraction, becomes Subhāstu or Suvāstu (McCrindle,

_Ptolemy_, 106 f.). It seems hardly likely that this tribe interfered

in the politics of the Indian desert.]

Footnote 7.4.19:

It must not be forgotten that Satalmer was one of the Bhatti castles

wrested from them by the Rathors, who have greatly curtailed their

frontiers.

Footnote 7.4.20:

From this and many other instances we come to the conclusion that the

Tatar or Indo-Scythic title of Khan is by no means indicative of the

Muhammadan faith. Here we see the daughter of the prince of Swat, or

Suvat, with a genuine Hindi name.

Footnote 7.4.21:

The position of Pilibanga is unknown; in all probability it has

undergone a metamorphosis with the spread of ‘the faith’ over these

regions. As before mentioned, I believe this race called Khokhar to be

the Gakkhar, so well known to Babur, and described as his inveterate

foes in all his irruptions into India. Their manners, especially that

distinctive mark, polyandry, mentioned by Ferishta, mark the Ghakkars

as Indo-Scythic. The names of their chiefs are decidedly Hindu. They

were located with the Judis in the upper part of the Panjab, and,

according to Elphinstone, they retain their old position, contiguous

to the Yusufzai Jadons. [See Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 540. They have no

connexion with the Rājput Jādons.]

Footnote 7.4.22:

Dhuniapur is not located.

Footnote 7.4.23:

In this chivalrous challenge, or demand of the Juddhdan, we recognize

another strong trait of Scythic manners, as depicted by Herodotus. The

ancient Getae of Transoxiana could not bear the idea of dying of

disease; a feeling which his offspring carried with them to the shores

of the Baltic, to Yeut-land, or Jutland! [?]

Footnote 7.4.24:

This fortress, erected by Rao Kailan, is stated to be twenty-two coss,

about forty miles, from Bahawalpur; but though the direction is not

stated, there is little doubt of its being to the northward, most

probably in that _duab_ called Sind-Sagar. [Probably Kahror in Multān

District, about 20 miles from Bahāwalpur.]

Footnote 7.4.25:

Couple this martial rite with the demand of Juddhdan, and there is an

additional reason for calling these Yadus Indo-Scythic. See p. 680 for

an account of the worship of the sword, or Khadga-sthapna.

Footnote 7.4.26:

The foregoing (from p. 1219), including the actions of Kailan,

Chachak, and Barsal, must be considered as an episode, detailing the

exploits of the Raos of Pugal, established by Kailan, third son of

Rawal Kehar of Jaisalmer. It was too essential to the annals to be

placed in a note.

Footnote 7.4.27:

[Rāwal Bersi, son of Lachhman, son of Kehar, is mentioned in

inscriptions as Chief of Jaisalmer, A.D. 1436, and 1440 (Erskine iii.

B. 9)].]

Footnote 7.4.28:

Rao Kailan had established his authority over nine castles, heads of

districts, namely, Asini, or Aswinikot, Bikampur, Marot, Pugal,

Derawar, Kahror (twenty-two coss, or about forty miles, from

Bahawalpur), Guman, Bahan, Nadno, and Matela, on the Indus.

Footnote 7.4.29:

There never was anything so degrading to royalty as the selfish

protection guaranteed to it by this Lycurgus of the Hindus, who says,

“Against misfortune, let him preserve his wealth; at the expense of

his wealth, let him preserve his wife; but let him at all events

preserve himself, even at the hazard of his wife and riches.”—Manu,

_Laws_, vii. 213. The entire history of the Rajputs shows they do not

pay much attention to such unmanly maxims.

-----

CHAPTER 5

=Jaisalmer a Mughal Fief.=—We have now reached that period in the Bhatti

annals when Shah Jahan was emperor of India. Elsewhere, we have minutely

related the measure which the great Akbar adopted to attach his Rajput

vassalage to the empire; a policy pursued by his successors. Sabal

Singh, the first of the princes of Jaisalmer who held his dominions as a

fief of the empire, was not the legitimate heir to the ‘_gaddi_ of

Jaisal [262].’[7.5.1] Manohardas had obtained the _gaddi_ by the

assassination of his nephew, Rawal Nathu, the son and heir of Bhim, who

was returning from his nuptials at Bikaner, and had passed the day at

Phalodi,[7.5.2] then a town of Jaisalmer, when poison was administered

to him by the hands of a female. But it was destined that the line of

the assassin should not rule, and the dignity fell to Sabal Singh, the

third in descent from Maldeo, second son of Rawal Nunkaran.

=Rāwal Sabal Singh, A.D. 1651-61.=—The good qualities of young Sabal,

and the bad ones of Ramchand, son of the usurper, afforded another

ground for the preference of the former. Moreover, Sabal was nephew to

the prince of Amber, under whom he held a distinguished post in the

government of Peshawar, where he saved the royal treasure from being

captured by the Afghan mountaineers. For this service, and being a

favourite of the chiefs who served with their contingents, the king gave

Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur command to place him on the _gaddi_. The

celebrated Nahar Khan Kumpawat[7.5.3] was entrusted with this duty, for

the performance of which he received the city and domain of Pokaran,

ever since severed from Jaisalmer.

=Pokaran lost to Jaisalmer.=—This was the first considerable abstraction

from the territories which had been progressively increased by Rawal

Jaisal and his successors, but which have since been woefully curtailed.

A short time before Babur’s invasion, the dependencies of Jaisalmer

extended on the north to the Gara River,[7.5.4] west to the Mihran or

Indus; and on the east and south they were bounded by the Rathors of

Bikaner and Marwar who had been gradually encroaching for two centuries,

and continue to do so to this day. The entire _thal_ of Barmer and

Kotra,[7.5.5] in the south, were Bhatti chieftainships, and eastward to

the site of Bikaner itself.

=Rāwal Amār Singh, A.D. 1661-1702.=—Amra Singh, son of Sabal, succeeded.

He led the _tika-daur_ against the Balochs, who had invaded the western

tracts, and was installed on the field of victory. Soon after, he

demanded aid from his subjects to portion his daughter, and being

opposed by his Rajput minister, Raghunath, he put him to death. The

Chana Rajputs, from the north-east, having renewed their old raids, he

in person attacked and compelled them to give bonds, or written

obligations, for their future good conduct.

Provoked by the daily encroachments of the Kandhalot Rathors, Sundardas

and Dalpat, chiefs of Bikampur, determined to retaliate: “let us get a

name in the [263] world,” said Dalpat, “and attack the lands of the

Rathors.” Accordingly, they invaded, plundered, and fired the town of

Jaju, on the Bikaner frontier. The Kandhalots retaliated on the towns of

Jaisalmer, and an action took place, in which the Bhattis were

victorious, slaying two hundred of the Rathors. The Rawal partook in the

triumph of his vassals. Raja Anup Singh[7.5.6] of Bikaner was then

serving with the imperial armies in the Deccan. On receiving this

account, he commanded his minister to issue a summons to every Kandhalot

capable of carrying arms to invade Jaisalmer, and take and raze

Bikampur, or he would consider them traitors. The minister issued the

summons; every Rathor obeyed it, and he added, as an auxiliary, a Pathan

chief with his band from Hissar. Rawal Amra collected his Bhattis around

him, and instead of awaiting the attack, advanced to meet it; he slew

many of the chiefs, burnt the frontier towns, and recovered Pugal,

forcing the Rathor chiefs of Barmer and Kotra to renew their engagements

of fealty and service.

Amra had eight sons, and was succeeded by Jaswant, the eldest, in S.

1758 (A.D. 1702), whose daughter was married to the heir-apparent of

Mewar.

* * * * *

Here ends the chronicle, of which the foregoing is an abstract: the

concluding portion of the annals is from a MS. furnished by a living

chronicler, corrected by other information. It is but a sad record of

anarchy and crime.

Soon after the death of Rawal Amra, Pugal, Barmer, Phalodi, and various

other towns and territories in Jaisalmer, were wrested from this State

by the Rathors.[7.5.7]

The territory bordering the Gara was taken by Daud Khan, an Afghan

chieftain from Shikarpur, and it became the nucleus of a State called

after himself, Daudputra.[7.5.8]

=Rāwal Jaswant Singh, A.D. 1702-22.=—Jaswant Singh succeeded. He had

five sons, Jagat Singh, who committed suicide, Isari Singh, Tej Singh,

Sardar Singh, and Sultan Singh. Jagat Singh had three sons, Akhai Singh,

Budh Singh, and Zorawar Singh.

=Rāwal Akhai Singh, A.D. 1722-62.=—Akhai Singh succeeded. Budh Singh

died of the smallpox; Tej Singh, uncle to the Rawal, usurped the

government, and the princes fled to Delhi to save their lives. At this

period, their grand-uncle, Hari Singh (brother of Rawal Jaswant), was

serving the king, and he returned in order to displace the usurper. It

is customary for the [264] prince of Jaisalmer to go annually in state

to the lake Gharsisar, to perform the ceremony of _Las_, or clearing

away the accumulation of mud and sand.[7.5.9] The Raja first takes out a

handful, when rich and poor follow his example. Hari Singh chose the

time when this ceremony was in progress to attack the usurper. The

attempt did not altogether succeed; but Tej Singh was so severely

wounded that he died, and was succeeded by his son,

Sawai Singh, an infant of three years of age. Akhai Singh collected the

Bhattis from all quarters, stormed the castle, put the infant to death,

and regained his rights.

Akhai Singh ruled forty years. During this reign, Bahawal Khan, son of

Daud Khan, took Derawar, and all the tract of Khadal, the first Bhatti

conquest, and added it to his new State of Bahawalpur, or Daudputra.

=Rāwal Mūlrāj, A.D. 1762-1820. Conspiracy against Mūlrāj.=—Mulraj

succeeded in S. 1818 (A.D. 1762). He had three sons, Rae Singh, Jeth

Singh, and Man Singh. The unhappy choice of a minister by Mulraj

completed the demoralization of the Bhatti principality. This minister

was named Sarup Singh, a Bania of the Jain faith and Mehta family,

destined to be the exterminators of the laws and fortunes of the ‘sons

of Jaisal.’ The cause of hatred and revenge of this son of commerce to

the Bhatti aristocracy arose out of a disgraceful dispute regarding a

Bakhtan, a fair frail one, a favourite of the Mehta, but who preferred

the Rajput, Sardar Singh, of the tribe of Aef.[7.5.10] The Bhatti chief

carried his complaint of the minister to the heir-apparent, Rae Singh,

who had also cause of grievance in the reduction of his income. It was

suggested to the prince to put this presumptuous minister to death; this

was effected by the prince’s own hand, in his father’s presence; and as

the Mehta, in falling, clung to Mulraj for protection, it was proposed

to take off Mulraj at the same time. The proposition, however, was

rejected with horror by the prince, whose vengeance was satisfied. The

Rawal was allowed to escape to the female apartments; but the

chieftains, well knowing they could not expect pardon from the Rawal,

insisted on investing Rae Singh, and if he refused, on placing his

brother on the _gaddi_. The _an_ of Rae Singh was proclaimed; but no

entreaty or threat would induce him to listen to the proposal of

occupying the throne; in lieu of which he used a pallet (khat). Three

months and five days had passed since the deposal and bondage of Mulraj,

when a female resolved to emancipate him: this female was the wife of

the chief conspirator, and confidential adviser of the regent prince.

This noble dame, a Rathor Rajputni, of the Malecha clan, was the wife of

Anup Singh of Jinjiniali, the premier noble of Jaisalmer, and who,

wearied with the tyranny of the minister and the weakness of his [265]

prince, had proposed the death of the one and the deposal of the other.

We are not made acquainted with any reason, save that of Swamidharma, or

‘fealty,’ which prompted the Rathorni to rescue her prince even at the

risk of her husband’s life; but her appeal to her son Zorawar, to

perform his duty, is preserved, and we give it verbatim: “Should your

father oppose you, sacrifice him to your duty, and I will mount the pyre

with his corpse.” The son yielded obedience to the injunction of his

magnanimous parent, who had sufficient influence to gain over Arjun, the

brother of her husband, as well as Megh Singh, chief of Baru. The three

chieftains forced an entrance into the prison where their prince was

confined, who refused to be released from his manacles, until he was

told that the Mahechi had promoted the plot for his liberty. The sound

of the grand nakkara, proclaiming Mulraj’s repossession of the _gaddi_,

awoke his son from sleep; and on the herald depositing at the side of

his pallet the sable _saropa_,[7.5.11] and all the insignia of exile—the

black steed and black vestments—the prince, obeying the command of the

emancipated Rawal, clad himself therein, and accompanied by his party,

bade adieu to Jaisalmer and took the road to Kotra. When he arrived at

this town, on the southern frontier of the State, the chiefs proposed to

“run the country”; but he replied, “the country was his mother, and

every Rajput his foe who injured it.” He repaired to Jodhpur, but the

chieftains abided about Sheo Kotra and Barmer, and during the twelve

years they remained outlaws, plundered even to the gates of Jaisalmer.

In the first three years they devastated the country, their castles were

dismantled, the wells therein filled up, and their estates sequestrated.

At the end of the twelve, having made the _talak_, or oath against

further plunder, their estates were restored, and they were readmitted

into their country.

The banished prince remained two years and a half with Raja Bijai Singh,

who treated him like a son. But he carried his arrogant demeanour with

him to Jodhpur; for one day, as he was going out to hunt, a Bania, to

whom he was indebted, seized his horse by the bridle, and invoking the

_an_ of Bijai Singh, demanded payment of his debt. The prince, in turn,

required him, with the invocation “by Mulraj!” to unloose his hold. But

the man of wealth, disregarding the appeal, insolently replied, “What is

Mulraj to me?” It was the last word he spoke; the sword of Rae Singh was

unsheathed, and the Bania’s head rolled on the ground: then, turning his

horse’s [266] head to Jaisalmer, he exclaimed, “Better be a slave at

once than live on the bounty of another.” His unexpected arrival outside

his native city brought out the entire population to see him. His

father, the Rawal, sent to know what had occasioned his presence, and he

replied that it was merely preparatory to pilgrimage. He was refused

admittance; his followers were disarmed, and he was sent to reside at

the fortress of Dewa, together with his sons Abhai Singh and Dhonkal

Singh, and their families.

=Sālim Singh, Prime Minister.=—Salim Singh, who succeeded his father as

prime minister of Jaisalmer, was but eleven years of age at the time of

his murder. His young mind appears, even at that early age, to have been

a hotbed for revenge; and the seeds which were sown soon quickened into

a luxuriance rarely equalled even in those regions, where human life is

held in little estimation. Without any of that daring valour which

distinguishes the Rajput, he overcame, throughout a long course of

years, all who opposed him, uniting the subtlety of the serpent to the

ferocity of the tiger. In person he was effeminate, in speech bland;

pliant and courteous in demeanour; promising, without hesitation, and

with all the semblance of sincerity, what he never had the most remote

intention to fulfil. Salim, or, as he was generally designated by his

tribe, the Mehta, was a signal instance of a fact of which these annals

exhibit too many examples, namely, the inadequacy of religious

professions, though of a severe character, as a restraint on moral

conduct; for though the tenets of his faith (the Jain) imperatively

prescribe the necessity of “hurting no sentient being,” and of sitting

in the dark rather than, by luring a moth into the flame of a lamp,

incur the penalty attached to the sin of insect-murder, this man has

sent more of ‘the sons of Jassa’ to Yamaloka[7.5.12] than the sword of

their external foes during his long administration. He had scarcely

attained man’s estate when the outlawed chiefs were restored to their

estates by a singular intervention. Raja Bhim Singh had acceded to the

_gaddi_ of Marwar, and the Mehta was chosen by the prince of Jaisalmer,

as his representative, to convey his congratulations, and the _tika_ of

acknowledgment on his succession, to Raja Bijai Singh. On his return

from this mission, he was waylaid and captured by the outlawed

chieftains, who instantly passed sentence of death upon the author of

their miseries. The sword was uplifted, when, “placing his turban at the

feet of Zorawar Singh,” he implored his protection—and he found it! Such

is the Rajput—an anomaly amongst his species; his character a compound

of the opposite and antagonistical qualities which impel mankind to

virtue and to crime. Let me recall to the mind of the reader that the

protector of this vampire [267] was the virtuous son of the virtuous

Rajputni who, with an elevation of mind equal to whatever is recorded of

Greek or Roman heroines, devoted herself, and a husband whom she loved,

to the one predominant sentiment of the Rajput, Swamidharma, or ‘fealty

to the sovereign.’ Yet had the wily Mehta effected the disgrace of this

brave chief, to whom the Rawal owed his release from bondage and

restoration to his throne, and forced him to join the outlaws amidst the

sand-hills of Barmer. Nothing can paint more strongly the influence of

this first of the Bhatti chiefs over his brethren than the act of

preserving the life of their mortal foe, thus cast into their hands; for

not only did they dissuade him from the act, but prophesied his

repentance of such mistaken clemency. Only one condition was stipulated,

their restoration to their homes. They were recalled, but not admitted

to court: a distinction reserved for Zorawar alone.

=Death of Rāe Singh.=—When Rae Singh was incarcerated in Dewa, his

eldest son, Abhai Singh, Rajkumar, ‘heir-apparent,’ with the second son,

Dhonkal, were left at Barmer, with the outlawed chiefs. The Rawal,

having in vain demanded his grandchildren, prepared an army and invested

Barmer. It was defended during six months, when a capitulation was

acceded to, and the children were given up to Mulraj on the bare pledge

of Zorawar Singh, who guaranteed their safety; and they were sent to the

castle of Dewa, where their father was confined. Soon after, the castle

was fired, and Rae Singh and his wife were consumed in the flames. On

escaping this danger, which was made to appear accidental, the young

princes were confined in the fortress of Ramgarh, in the most remote

corner of the desert, bordering the valley of Sind, for their security

and that of the Rawal (according to the Mehta’s account), and to prevent

faction from having a nucleus around which to form. But Zorawar, who

entertained doubts of the minister’s motives, reminded the Rawal that

the proper place for the heir-apparent was the court, and that his

honour stood pledged for his safety. This was sufficient for the Mehta,

whose mind was instantly intent upon the means to rid himself of so

conscientious an adviser. Zorawar had a brother named Ketsi, whose wife,

according to the courtesy of Rajwara, had adopted the minister as her

brother. Salim sounded his adopted sister as to her wish to see her

husband become lord of Jinjiniali. The tempter succeeded: he furnished

her with poisoned comfits, which she administered to the gallant

Zorawar; and her lord was inducted into the estates of Jinjiniali.

Having thus disposed of the soul of the Bhatti nobility, he took off in

detail the chiefs of Baru, Dangri, and many others, chiefly by the same

means, though some by [268] the dagger. Ketsi, who, whether innocent or

a guilty participant in his brother’s death, had benefited thereby, was

marked in the long list of proscription of this fiend, who determined to

exterminate every Rajput of note. Ketsi knew too much, and those

connected with him shared in this dangerous knowledge: wife, brother,

son, were therefore destined to fall by the same blow. The immediate

cause of enmity was as follows. The minister, who desired to set aside

the claims of the children of Rae Singh to the _gaddi_, and to nominate

the youngest son of Mulraj as heir-apparent, was opposed by Ketsi, as it

could only be effected by the destruction of the former; and he replied,

that “no co-operation of his should sanction the spilling of the blood

of any of his master’s family.” Salim treasured up the remembrance of

this opposition to his will, though without any immediate sign of

displeasure. Soon after, Ketsi and his brother Sarup were returning from

a nuptial ceremony at Kanera, in the district of Balotra. On reaching

Bhikarai, on the Jaisalmer frontier, where the ministers of the Mehta’s

vengeance were posted, the gallant Zorawar and his brother were

conducted into the castle, out of which their bodies were brought only

to be burnt. Hearing of some intended evil to her lord, Ketsi’s wife,

with her infant son, Megha, sought protection in the minister’s own

abode, where she had a double claim, as his adopted sister, to sanctuary

and protection. For five days, the farce was kept up of sending food for

herself and child; but the slave who conveyed it remarking, in coarse,

unfeeling language, that both her husband and her brother were with

their fathers, she gave a loose to grief and determined on revenge. This

being reported to the Mehta, he sent a dagger for her repose.

The princes, Abhai Singh and Dhonkal Singh, confined in the fortress of

Ramgarh, soon after the murder of Ketsi were carried off, together with

their wives and infants, by poison. The murderer then proclaimed Gaj

Singh, the youngest but one of all the posterity of Mulraj, as

heir-apparent. His brothers sought security in flight from this

fiend-like spirit of the minister, and are now refugees in the Bikaner

territory. The following slip from the genealogical tree will show the

branches so unmercifully lopped off by this monster:

Mulraj.

│

┌─────────────────┼─────────────────────┐

│ │ │

Rae Singh, Jeth Singh (_kana_), Man Singh,

poisoned. living. killed by a fall from his horse.

│ │ │

├───────┐ │ ┌───────┬─────┼────────┐

Abhai Singh, │ Maha Singh, │ Devi Singh, │ Fateh Singh,

poisoned. │ blind. │ in exile. │ in exile.

│ │ │

Dhonkal Singh, Tej Singh, Gaj Singh,

poisoned. in exile. reigning prince.

[269.]

Maha Singh, being blind of one eye[7.5.13] (_kana_), could not succeed;

and Man Singh being killed by a fall from his horse, the Mehta was saved

the crime of adding one more “mortal murther to his crown.”

=Long Reigns of Rājput Princes.=—It is a singular fact, that the longest

reigns we know of in Rajwara occurred during ministerial usurpations.

The late Maharao of Kotah occupied the _gaddi_ upwards of half a

century, and the Rawal Mulraj swayed the nominal sceptre of this _oasis_

of the desert upwards of fifty-eight years. His father ruled forty

years, and I doubt whether, in all history, we can find another instance

of father and son reigning for a century.[7.5.14] This century was

prolific in change to the dynasty, whose whole history is full of

strange vicissitudes. If we go back to Jaswant Singh, the grandfather of

Mulraj, we find the Bhatti principality touching the Gara on the north,

which divided it from Multan; on the west it was bounded by the Panjnad,

and thus included a narrow slip of the fertile valley of Sind; and we

have seen it stretch, at no remote period, even to the ancient capital

Mansura, better known to the Hindu as Rori-Bakhar,[7.5.15] the islandic

capital of the Sogdoi (Sodha) of Alexander. To the south, it rested on

Dhat, including the castles of Sheo, Kotra, and Barmer, seized on by

Marwar; and in the east embraced the districts of Phalodi, Pokaran, and

other parts, also in the possession of Marwar or Bikaner. The whole of

the State of Bahawalpur is formed out of the Bhatti dominion, and the

Rathors have obtained therefrom not a small portion of their western

frontier. This abstraction of territory will account for the

heartburnings and border-feuds which continually break out between the

Bhattis and Rathors, and ‘the children of David (Daudputras).’

Could the same prophetic steel which carved upon the pillar of Brahmsar

the destinies of the grandson of the deified Hari, eleven hundred years

before Christ, have subjoined to that of Jaisal the fate which awaited

his descendant Mulraj, he would doubtless have regarded the prophecy as

conveying a falsehood too gross for belief. That the offspring of the

deified prince of Dwarka, who founded Ghazni, and fought the [270]

united kings of Syria and Bactria, should, at length, be driven back on

India, and compelled to seek shelter under the sign of the cross, reared

amidst their sand-hills by a handful of strangers, whose ancestors, when

they were even in the maturity of their fame, were wandering in their

native woods, with painted bodies, and offering human sacrifices to the

sun-god—more resembling Balsiva than Balkrishna—these would have seemed

prodigies too wild for faith.

-----

Footnote 7.5.1:

Nunkaran had three sons, Harraj, Maldeo, and Kalyandas; each had

issue. Harraj had Bhim (who succeeded his grandfather Nunkaran).

Maldeo had Ketsi, who had Dayaldas, father of Sabal Singh, to whom was

given in appanage the town of Mandila, near Pokaran. The third son,

Kalyandas, had Manohardas, who succeeded Bhim. Ramchand was the son of

Manohardas. A slip from the genealogical tree will set this in a clear

light.

1. Nunkaran

│

┌─────────────┼─────────────┐

│ │ │

Harraj. Maldeo. Kalyandas.

| | │

2. Bhim. Ketsi. 3. Manohardas.

│ │ │

Nathu. Dayaldas. Ramchand.

│

4. Sabal Singh.

Footnote 7.5.2:

[About 75 miles N.W. of Jodhpur city.]

Footnote 7.5.3:

Another synchronism (see Annals of Marwar for an account of Nahar

Khan) of some value, since it accounts for the first abstraction of

territory by the Rathors from the Bhattis.

Footnote 7.5.4:

The Gara is invariably called the Bias in the chronicle. Gara, or

Ghara, is so called, in all probability, from the mud (_gar_)

suspended in its waters. The Gara is composed of the waters of the

Bias and Sutlej. [See _IGI_, vii. 139, xxiii. 179.]

Footnote 7.5.5:

[About 60 miles S. of Jaisalmer city.]

Footnote 7.5.6:

[A.D. 1669-95.]

Footnote 7.5.7:

The most essential use to which my labours can be applied is that of

enabling the British Government, when called upon to exercise its

functions, as protector and arbitrator of the international quarrels

of Rajputana, to understand the legitimate and original grounds of

dispute. Here we perceive the germ of the border-feuds, which have led

to so much bloodshed between Bikaner and Jaisalmer, in which the

former was the first aggressor; but as the latter, for the purpose of

redeeming her lost territory, most frequently appeals as the agitator

of public tranquillity, it is necessary to look for the remote cause

in pronouncing our award.

Footnote 7.5.8:

[Bahāwalpur.]

Footnote 7.5.9:

[Lāsa, ‘anything clammy,’ like mud. This is a common pious act,

performed at sacred tanks, and by some castes, like the Idaiyans of

Madras, at marriages (_North Indian Notes and Queries_, ii. 111;

Thurston, _Tribes and Castes of S. India_, i. 360 f.).]

Footnote 7.5.10:

[This tribe has not been traced.]

Footnote 7.5.11:

_Saropa_ is the Rajput term for khilat, and is used by those who, like

the Rana of Udaipur, prefer the vernacular dialect to the corrupt

jargon of the Islamite. _Sar-o-pa_ (from ‘head,’ _sar_, to ‘foot,’

_pa_) means a complete dress; in short, _cap-à-pied_. [See Yule,

_Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 808.]

Footnote 7.5.12:

Pluto’s realm.

Footnote 7.5.13:

A person blind of one eye is incompetent to succeed, according to

Hindu law. Kana is the nickname given to a person labouring under this

personal defect, which term is merely an anagram of _ânka_, ‘the eye.’

[This is wrong. It is derived from Skt. _kāna_, ‘one-eyed’.] The loss

of an eye does not deprive an occupant of his rights—of which we had a

curious example in the siege of the imperial city of Delhi, which gave

rise to the remark, that the three greatest men therein had only the

complement of one man amongst them: the emperor had been deprived of

both eyes by the brutality of Ghulam Kadir; the besieging chief Holkar

was kana, as was the defender, Sir D. Ochterlony. Holkar’s name has

become synonymous with kana, and many a horse, dog, and man, blind of

an eye, is called after this celebrated Mahratta leader. The Hindus,

by what induction I know not, attach a degree of moral obliquity to

every individual kana, and appear to make no distinction between the

natural and the acquired defect; though to all kanas they apply

another and more dignified appellation, Sukracharya [the regent of the

planet Venus], the Jupiter of their astromythology, which very grave

personage came by his misfortune in no creditable way—for, although

the Guru, or spiritual head of the Hindu gods, he set as bad a moral

example to them as did the classical Jupiter to the tenants of the

Greek and Roman Pantheon.

Footnote 7.5.14:

[Ummed Singh of Kotah, A.D. 1771-1819; Mūlrāj of Jaisalmer, 1762-1820;

Akhai Singh of Jaisalmer, 1722-62.]

Footnote 7.5.15:

Mansura was many miles south of Bakhar.

-----

CHAPTER 6

=Treaty with the British.=—It was in the Samvat (era) of Vikrama,

1818,[7.6.1] that Rawal Mulraj was inaugurated on the throne of Jaisal;

and it was in the year of our Lord 1818, that a treaty of “perpetual

friendship, alliance, and unity of interests” was concluded between the

Honourable East-India Company and Maha Rawal Mulraj, the Raja of

Jaisalmer, his heirs and successors, the latter agreeing “to act in

subordinate co-operation with the British Government, and with

submission to its supremacy.”[7.6.2] This was almost the last act of

Rawal Mulraj, who had always been a mere puppet in the hands of Mehta

Salim Singh or his father. He died A.D. 1820, when his grandson, Gaj

Singh, was proclaimed.

=Maharāwal Gaj Singh, A.D. 1820-46.=—Rawal Gaj Singh was fitted, from

his years, his past seclusion, and the examples which had occurred

before his eyes, to be the submissive pageant Salim Singh required.

Isolated, in every sense, from intercourse with the rest of mankind, by

the [271] policy of the minister, he had no community of sympathy with

them, and no claim upon their aid. Surrounded by the creatures of Salim

Singh, who, even to their daily dole, ascribe everything to this man’s

favour, each word, each gesture, is watched and reported. The prince

himself, his wives and family, are alike dependents on the minister’s

bounty, often capriciously exercised. If he requires a horse, he must

solicit it; or if desirous of bestowing some recompense, he requests to

be furnished with the means, and deems himself fortunate if he obtain a

moiety of his suit.

It will be observed from the date of this treaty (Dec. 1818), that

Jaisalmer was the last of the States of India received under the

protection of the British Government. Its distance made it an object of

little solicitude to us; and the minister, it is said, had many long and

serious consultations with his oracles before he united his destiny with

ours. He doubted the security of his power if the Rawal should become

subordinate to the British Government; and he was only influenced by the

greater risk of being the sole State in Rajwara without the pale of its

protection, which would have left him to the mercy of those enemies whom

his merciless policy had created around him. The third and most

important article of the treaty[7.6.3] tranquillized his apprehensions

as to external foes; with these apprehensions all fear as to the

consequences arising from ministerial tyranny towards the princely

exiles was banished, and we shall presently find that this alliance,

instead of checking his rapacity and oppression, incited them. But it is

necessary, in the first place, to bestow a few remarks on the policy of

the alliance as regards the British Government.

=The Treaty of Alliance.=—Its inequality requires no demonstration; the

objects to be attained by it to the respective parties having no

approximation to parity. The advantages to Jaisalmer were immediate; and

to use the phraseology of the treaty, were not only of “great

magnitude,” but were vitally important. From the instant the treaties

were exchanged, her existence as a permanent State, which was not worth

half a century’s purchase, was secured. Her power had been gradually

declining, and reign after reign was narrowing her possessions to the

vicinity of the capital. One State, Bahawalpur, had been formed from her

northern territory; while those of Sind, Bikaner, and Jodhpur, had been

greatly aggrandized at her expense; and all were inclined, as occasion

arose, to encroach upon her feebleness. The faithless character of the

minister, Salim Singh [272], afforded abundant pretexts for quarrel, and

the anarchy of her neighbours proved her only safeguard during the later

years of her independent existence. Now, the British Government having

pledged itself to exert its power for the protection of the

principality, in the event of any “serious invasion,” her fears either

of Sindis, Daudputras, or of Rathors, are at rest. The full extent of

this pledge may not have been contemplated when it was given; like all

former alliances, it is the base of another step in advance. Instead of

restricting the vast circle of our political connexions, it at once

carried us out of India, placing us in actual contact and possible

collision with the rulers of Sind and the people beyond the Indus.

Marwar and Bikaner being already admitted to our alliance, the power of

settling their feuds with the Bhattis is comparatively simple; but with

Daudputra we have no political connexions, and with Sind, only those of

“perpetual friendship and mutual intercourse”; but no stipulation

ensuring respect to our remonstrances in case of the aggression of their

subjects on our Bhatti ally. Are we then to push our troops through the

desert to repel such acts, or must we furnish pecuniary subsidies (the

cheapest mode), that she may entertain mercenaries for that object? We

must view it, in this light, as an event, not only not improbable, but

of very likely occurrence. Our alliance with Cutch involved us in this

perplexity in 1819. Our armies were formed and moved to the frontier,

and a declaration of war was avoided only by accepting a tardy _amende_

in no way commensurate with the insult of invading, massacring, and

pillaging our allies.[7.6.4] In this instance, our means of chastisement

were facilitated by our maritime power of grappling with the enemy; but

if the insult proceeds from the government of Upper Sind (only nominally

dependent on Haidarabad), or from Bahawalpur, how are we to cope with

these enemies of our ally? Such wars might lead us into a _terra

incognita_ beyond the Indus, or both the spirit and letter of the treaty

will be null.

=The Strategical Importance of Jaisalmer.=—What, therefore, are the

advantages we can hold out to ourselves for the volunteer of our amity

and protection to this oasis of the desert? To have disregarded the

appeal of Jaisalmer for protection, to have made her the sole exception

in all Rajputana from our amicable relations, would have been to consign

her to her numerous enemies, and to let loose the spirit of rapine and

revenge, which it was the main object [273] of all these treaties to

suppress; the Bhattis would have become a nation of robbers, the

Bedouins of the Indian desert. Jaisalmer was the first link in a chain

of free States, which formerly united the commerce of the Ganges with

that of the Indus, but which interminable feuds had completely severed;

the possibility of reunion depending upon a long continuance of

tranquillity and confidence. This object alone would have warranted our

alliance with Jaisalmer. But if we look to futurity, to the possible

invasion of India, which can be best effected through the maritime

provinces of Persia, the valley of the Indus will be the base of the

invader’s operations. The possession of Jaisalmer would then be of vital

importance, by giving us the command of Upper Sind, and enabling us to

act against the enemy simultaneously with our armies east of the Delta,

the most practicable point of advance into India. We may look upon

invasion by the ancient routes pursued by Alexander, Mahmud, and Timur,

as utterly visionary, by an army encumbered with all the _matériel_

necessary to success, and thus the valley of Sind presents the only

practicable route. But it would be a grand error, both in a political

and military point of view, to possess ourselves of this valley, even if

an opportunity were again to occur. It is true, the resources of that

fertile region, so analogous to Egypt, would soon, under our management,

maintain an army sufficient to defend it; and this would bring us at

once into contact with the power (Persia) which clings to us for

support, and will be adverse to us only when rendered subservient to

Russia. It were well to view the possible degradation and loss of power

to Russia, in Europe, as likely to afford a fresh stimulant to her

ancient schemes of oriental aggrandizement. By some these schemes are

looked upon as Quixotic, and I confess myself to be of the number. The

better Russia is acquainted with the regions she would have to pass, the

less desire will she evince for an undertaking, which, even if

successful in the outset, would be useless; for if she conquered, she

could not maintain India.[7.6.5] But, to me, it still appears imperative

that this power should formally renounce such designs; the state of

perpetual preparation rendered necessary by her menacing position, being

so injurious to our finances, is worse than the actual attempt, which

would only entail upon her inevitable loss. We lost, through our unwise

economy, a noble opportunity of maintaining an ascendancy at the court

of Kabul, which would have been easily prevailed upon, for our pecuniary

aid, to make over to us the sovereignty of Sind (were this desirable),

which is still considered a grand division of Kabul.

But setting the political question aside, and considering our possession

of the [274] valley of Sind only in a military point of view, our

occupation of it would be prejudicial to us. We should have a long line

to defend, and rivers are no barriers in modern warfare. Whilst an

impassable desert is between us, and we have the power, by means of our

allies, of assailing an enemy at several points, though we are liable to

attack but from one, an invader could not maintain himself a single

season. On this ground, the maintenance of friendship with this remote

nook of Rajput civilization is defensible, and we have the additional

incitement of rescuing the most industrious and wealthy commercial

communities in India from the fangs of a harpy; to whom, and the

enormities of his government, we return.

=Effect of the Treaty on the Policy of Sālim Singh.=—No language can

adequately represent the abuse of power with which the treaty has armed

the rapacious minister of Jaisalmer, and it is one of the many instances

of the inefficacy of our system of alliances to secure prosperity, or

even tranquillity to these long-afflicted regions; which, although

rescued from external assailants, are still the prey of discord and

passion within. It will not be difficult, at the proper time and place,

to make this appear.[7.6.6] The Mehta felt the advantages which the

treaty gave him, in respect to neighbouring States; but he also felt

that he had steeped himself too deeply in the blood of his master’s

family, and in that of his noblest chieftains, to hope that any

repentance, real or affected, could restore to him the confidence of

those he had so outraged. With commercial men, with the industrious

husbandman or pastoral communities, he had so long forfeited all claim

to credit, that his oath was not valued at a single grain of the sand of

their own desert dominion.

The bardic annalist of Rajputana, when compelled to record the acts of a

tyrant, first announces his moral death; then comes the

metempsychosis—the animating his frame with the spirit of a demon. In

this manner is delineated the famed Bisaldeo, the Chauhan king of Ajmer.

Whether the Bhatti minister will obtain such a posthumous apology for

his misdeeds, a future historian will learn; but assuredly he is never

mentioned, either in poetry or prose, but as a vampire, draining the

life-blood of a whole people. For a short time after the treaty was

formed, he appeared to fall in with the march of universal reformation;

but whether it was that his crimes had outlawed him from the sympathies

of all around, or that he could feel no enjoyment but in his habitual

crimes, he soon gave indulgence to his rapacious spirit. The cause of

his temporary forbearance was attributed to his anxiety to have [275] an

article added to the treaty, guaranteeing the office of prime minister

in his family, perhaps with a view to legalize his plunder; but seeing

no hope of fixing an hereditary race of vampires on the land, his

outrages became past all endurance, and compelled the British agent, at

length, to report to his government (on December 17, 1821), that he

considered the alliance disgraceful to our reputation, by countenancing

the idea that such acts can be tolerated under its protection.

Representations to the minister were a nullity; he protested against

their fidelity; asserted in specious language his love of justice and

mercy; and recommenced his system of confiscations, contributions, and

punishments, with redoubled severity.

=Misgovernment of Sālim Singh.=—All Rajwara felt an interest in these

proceedings, as the bankers of Jaisalmer, supported by the capital of

that singular class, the Paliwals, are spread all over India. But this

rich community, amounting to five thousand families, are nearly all in

voluntary exile, and the bankers fear to return to their native land

with the fruits of their industry, which they would renounce for ever,

but that he retains their families as hostages. Agriculture is almost

unknown, and commerce, internal or external, has ceased through want of

security. The sole revenue arises from confiscation. It is asserted that

the minister has amassed no less than _two crores_, which wealth is

distributed in the various cities of Hindustan, and has been obtained by

pillage and the destruction of the most opulent families of his country

during the last twenty years. He has also, it is said, possessed himself

of all the crown-jewels and property of value, which he has sent out of

the country. Applications were continually being made to the British

agent for passports (_parwanas_), by commercial men, to withdraw their

families from the country. But all have some ties which would be

hazarded by their withdrawing, even if such a step were otherwise free

from danger; for while the minister afforded passports, in obedience to

the wish of the agent, he might cut them off in the desert. This makes

many bear the ills they have.[7.6.7]

=A Border Feud.=—We shall terminate our historical sketch of Jaisalmer

with the details of a border feud, which called into operation the main

condition of the British alliance—the right of universal arbitration in

the international quarrels of Rajputana. The predatory habits of the

Maldots of Baru originated a rupture, which threatened to involve the

two States in war, and produced an invasion of the Rathors, sufficiently

serious to warrant British interference. It will hardly be credited that

this aggression, which drew down upon the Maldots the vengeance of

Bikaner, was covertly stimulated by the minister, for the express

purpose of their extirpation, for reasons which will [276] appear

presently; yet he was the first to complain of the retaliation. To

understand this matter, a slight sketch of the Maldot tribe is

requisite.

=The Maldot Tribe.=—The Maldots, the Kailans, the Birsangs, the Pohars,

and Tejmalots, are all Bhatti tribes; but, from their lawless habits,

these names have become, like those of Bedouin, Kazzak, or Pindari,

synonymous with ‘robber.’ The first are descended from Rao Maldeo, and

hold the fief (_patta_) of Baru, consisting of eighteen villages,

adjoining the tract called Kharipatta, wrested from the Bhattis by the

Rathors of Bikaner, who, to confess the truth, morally deserve the

perpetual hostility of this Bhatti lord-marcher, inasmuch as they were

the intruders, and have deprived them (the Bhattis) of much territory.

But the Rathors, possessing the right of the strongest, about

twenty-five years ago exercised it in the most savage manner; for,

having invaded Baru, they put almost the entire community to the sword,

without respect to age or sex, levelled the towns, filled up the wells,

and carried off the herds and whatever was of value. The survivors took

shelter in the recesses of the desert, and propagated a progeny, which,

about the period of connexion with the British, reoccupied their

deserted lands. The minister, it is asserted, beheld the revival of this

infant colony with no more favourable eye than did their enemies of

Bikaner, whom, it is alleged, he invited once more to their destruction.

The lawless habits of this tribe would have been assigned by the

minister as his motive for desiring their extermination; but if we look

back (p. 1232), we shall discover the real cause in his having incurred

the lasting enmity of this clan for the foul assassination of their

chief, who had been a party to the views of the heir-apparent, Rae

Singh, to get rid of this incubus on their freedom. The opportunity

afforded to take vengeance on the Maldots arose out of a service

indirectly done to the British Government. On the revolt of the Peshwa,

he sent his agents to Jaisalmer to purchase camels. One herd, to the

number of four hundred, had left the Bhatti frontiers, and whilst

passing through the Bikaner territory, were set upon by the Maldots, who

captured the whole and conveyed them to Baru. It is scarcely to be

supposed that such an aggression on the independence of Bikaner would

have prompted her extensive armament, or the rapidity with which her

troops passed the Bhatti frontier to avenge the insult, without some

private signal from the minister, who was loud in his call for British

interference; though not until Nokh[7.6.8] and Baru, their principal

towns, were levelled, the chief killed, the wells filled up, and the

victorious army following up its success by a rapid march on Bikampur,

in which the fiscal lands began to suffer. The minister then discovered

he had overshot the mark, and claimed [277] our interference,[7.6.9]

which was rapid and effectual; and the Bikaner commander the more

willingly complied with the request to retire within his own frontier,

having effected more than his object.

The tortuous policy, the never-ending and scarcely-to-be-comprehended

border feuds of these regions, must, for a long while, generate such

appeals. Since these associated bands attach no dishonour to their

predatory profession, it will be some time before they acquire proper

notions; but when they discover there is no retreat in which punishment

may not reach them, they will learn the benefits of cultivating the arts

of peace, of whose very name no trace exists in their history.

We have lost sight of the Rawal, the title of the prince of Jaisalmer,

in the prominent acts of his minister. Gaj Singh, who occupies the

_gaddi_ of Jaisal, to the prejudice of his elder brothers, who are still

in exile in Bikaner, appears very well suited to the minister’s purpose,

and to have little desire beyond his horses, and vegetating in quiet.

The physiognomists of Jaisalmer, however, prognosticate the development

of moral worth in due season; a consummation devoutly to be wished, and

the first symptom of which must be the riddance of his minister by

whatever process. The artful Salim deemed that it would redound to his

credit, and bolster up his interest, to seek a matrimonial alliance with

the Rana’s family of Mewar. The overture was accepted, and the

coco-symbol transmitted to the Rawal, who put himself at the head of the

Bhatti chivalry to wed and escort his bride through the desert. The

Rathor princes of Bikaner and Kishangarh, who were at the same time

suitors for the hands of another daughter and a granddaughter of the

Rana, simultaneously arrived at Udaipur with their respective cortèges;

and this triple alliance threw a degree of splendour over the capital of

the Sesodias, to which it had long been a stranger. Gaj Singh lives very

happily with his wife, who has given him an heir to his desert domain.

The influence of high rank is seen in the respect paid to the Ranawatji

(the title by which she is designated), even by the minister, and she

exerts this influence most humanely for the amelioration of her

subjects[7.6.10] [278].

-----

Footnote 7.6.1:

[A.D. 1762.]

Footnote 7.6.2:

See Appendix No. III. for a copy of this treaty. [See end of Vol.

III.]

Footnote 7.6.3:

Art. III. “In the event of any serious invasion directed towards the

overthrow of the principality of Jessulmer, or other danger of great

magnitude occurring to that principality, the British Government will

exert its power for the protection of the principality, provided that

the cause of the quarrel be not ascribable to the Raja of Jessulmer.”

Footnote 7.6.4:

The attitude assumed by the energetic governor of Bombay, Mr.

Elphinstone, on that occasion, will for a long time remain a lesson to

the triumvirate government of Sind. To the Author it still appears a

subject of regret, that, with the adequate preparation, the season,

and everything promising a certainty of success, the pacific tone of

Lord Hastings’ policy should have prevented the proper assertion of

our dignity, by chastising an insult, aggravated in every shape. A

treaty of amity and mutual intercourse was the result of this

armament; but although twelve years have since elapsed, our

intercourse has remained _in statu quo_; but this is no ground for

quarrel. [Rāo Bharmall of Cutch, on account of his disloyalty to the

British Government, was coerced by a force commanded by Captain

MacMurdo, the Resident, which, on 25th March 1819, escaladed the fort

of Bhuj, and compelled the Rāo to surrender (_BG_, v. 162).

Footnote 7.6.5:

[This prediction has been fulfilled by recent events.]

Footnote 7.6.6:

It is my intention (if space is left) to give a concise statement of

the effects of our alliances, individually and collectively, in the

States of Rajwara, with a few hints towards amending the system, at

the conclusion of this volume. [This was not done.]

Footnote 7.6.7:

[“Up to 1823 Sālim Singh constantly urged, in the name of his master,

claims to the territories of other chiefs, but these were rejected as

the investigation of them was inconsistent with the engagements

subsisting between the British Government and other States. In 1824

Sālim Singh was wounded by a Rājput, and as there was some fear that

the wound might heal, his wife gave him poison.” Some support was

given for the succession of his eldest son as prime minister, but the

British Government declined to interfere in the appointment or

punishment of a minister, on which all parties returned to their

allegiance, and Rāwal Gaj Singh assumed personal charge of the

administration (Erskine iii. A. 15 f.).]

Footnote 7.6.8:

[Nokh, 96 miles N.E. of Jaisalmer city.]

Footnote 7.6.9:

The Author has omitted to mention that he was political agent for

Jaisalmer; so that his control extended uninterruptedly, almost from

Sind to Sind; _i.e._ from the Indus, or great Sindh, to the

Chhota-Sindh, or little river (see map). There are several streams

designated Sindh, in Central India, a word purely Tatar, or Scythic.

Abusin, ‘the Father-river,’ is one of the many names of the Indus.

[Sindhu is a Sanskrit word, probably connected with the root _syand_,

‘to flow.’]

Footnote 7.6.10:

I had the honour of receiving several letters from this queen of the

desert, who looked to her father’s house and his friends, as the best

objects for support, whilst such a being as Sālim was the master of

her own and her husband’s destiny. [Gaj Singh earned the special

thanks of the British Government for his services in supplying camel

transport in the Afghān war of 1838-39; and in 1844, after the

conquest of Sind, the forts of Shāhgarh, Gharsia, and Ghotāru, which

had formerly belonged to Jaisalmer, were restored to that State. Gaj

Singh died without issue in 1846, and his widow adopted his nephew,

Ranjīt Singh, who died without an heir in 1864 (Erskine iii. A. 16).]

-----

CHAPTER 7

=Geography of Jaisalmer.=—The country still dependent on the Rawal

extends between 70° 30´ and 72° 30´ E. long., and between the parallels

of 26° 20´ and 27° 50´ N. lat., though a small strip protrudes, in the

N.-E. angle, as high as 28° 30´. This irregular surface may be roughly

estimated to contain fifteen thousand square miles.[7.7.1] The number of

towns, villages, and hamlets, scattered over this wide space, does not

exceed two hundred and fifty; some estimate it at three hundred, and

others depress it to two hundred; the mean cannot be wide of the truth.

To enable the reader to arrive at a conclusion as to the population of

this region, we subjoin a calculation, from data furnished by the

best-informed natives, which was made in the year 1815: but we must add,

that from the tyranny of the minister, the population of the capital

(which is nearly half of the country), has been greatly diminished.

──────────┬──────────┬─────────┬────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────

│ Fiscal │Number │ Number │

│ and │ of │ of │ Remarks.

│ Feudal. │Houses. │Inhabitants.│

──────────┼──────────┼─────────┼────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────

Jaisalmer │ Capital │ 7,000 │ 35,000│

│ │ │ │┌ The chief has the title of Rao,

Bikampur │ Pattayat │ 500 │ 2,000││ and twenty-four villages

│ │ │ ││ dependent, not included in

│ │ │ │└ this estimate.

Sirara │ Do. │ 300 │ 1,200│┌ Kelan Bhatti: the Kelan

│ │ │ │└ tribe extends to Pugal.

Nachna │ Do. │ 400 │ 1,600│ Rawalot chief.

Katori │ Fiscal │ 300 │ 1,200│

Kaba │ Do. │ 300 │ 1,200│

Kuldaro │ Do. │ 200 │ 800│

Satta │ Pattayat │ 300 │ 1,200│ [279]

Jinjiniali│ Do. │ 300 │ 1,200│┌ Rawalot: first noble of

│ │ │ │└ Jaisalmer.

Devi-Kot │ Fiscal │ 200 │ 800│

Bhap │ Do. │ 200 │ 800│

Balana │ Pattayat │ 150 │ 600│

Satiasa │ Do. │ 100 │ 400│

│ │ │ │┌ Maldot: has eighteen

Baru │ Do. │ 200 │ 800││ villages attached, not

│ │ │ │└ included in this.

Chaun │ Do. │ 200 │ 800│

Loharki │ Do. │ 150 │ 600│┐

Noantala │ Do. │ 150 │ 600││ All of the Rawalot clan.

Lahti │ Do. │ 300 │ 1,200│┘

Dangari │ Do. │ 150 │ 600│

Bijorai │ Fiscal │ 200 │ 800│

Mandai │ Do. │ 200 │ 800│

Ramgarh │ Do. │ 200 │ 800│

Birsalpur │ Pattayat │ 200 │ 800│

Girajsar │ Do. │ 150 │ 600│

│ │ │ ————│

│ │ │ 56,400│

│ │ │ │

Two hundred and twenty-five ┐│ │

villages and hamlets, from ││ │

four to fifty houses each; ││ │

say, each average twenty, ││ 18,000│

at four inhabitants to each ┘│ │

│ ————│

TOTAL │ 74,400│

───────────────────────────────┴────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────

According to this census, we have a population not superior to one of

the secondary cities of Great Britain, scattered over fifteen thousand

square miles; nearly one-half, too, belonging to the capital, which

being omitted, the result would give from two to three souls only for

each square mile.

=Face of the Country.=—The greater part of Jaisalmer is _thal_, or

_rui_, both terms meaning ‘a desert waste.’ From Lohwar, on the Jodhpur

frontier, to Khara, the remote angle touching Sind, the country may be

described as a continuous tract of arid sand, frequently rising into

lofty _tibas_ (sand-hills), in some parts covered with low jungle. This

line, which nearly bisects Jaisalmer, is also the line of demarcation of

positive sterility and comparative cultivation. To the north is one

uniform and naked waste; to the south are ridges of rock termed _magra_,

_rui_, and light soil [280].

The ridge of hills is a most important feature in the geology of this

desert region.[7.7.2] It is to be traced from Cutch Bhuj, strongly or

faintly marked, according to the nature of the country. Sometimes it

assumes, as at Chhotan, the character of a mountain; then dwindles into

an insignificant ridge scarcely discernible, and often serves as a

bulwark for the drifting sands, which cover and render it difficult to

trace it at all. As it reaches the Jaisalmer country it is more

developed; and at the capital, erected on a peak about two hundred and

fifty feet high, its presence is more distinct, and its character

defined. The capital of the Bhattis appears as the nucleus of a series

of ridges, which diverge from it in all directions for the space of

fifteen miles. One branch terminates at Ramgarh, thirty-five miles

north-west of Jaisalmer; another branch extends easterly to Pokaran (in

Jodhpur), and thence, in a north-east direction, to Phalodi; from

whence, at intervals, it is traceable to Gariala, nearly fifty miles due

north. It is a yellow-coloured sandstone, in which ochre is abundantly

found, with which the people daub their houses.

These barren ridges, and the lofty undulating _tibas_ of sand, are the

only objects which diversify the almost uniform sterility of these

regions. No trees interpose their verdant foliage to relieve the eye, or

shelter the exhausted frame of the traveller. It is nearly a boundless

waste, varied only by a few stunted shrubs of the acacia or mimosa

family, some succulent plants, or prickly grasses, as the

_bharut_[7.7.3] or burr, which clings to his garment and increases his

miseries. Yet compared with the more northern portion, where “a sea of

sand without a sign of vegetation”[7.7.4] forms the prospect, the

vicinity of the capital is a paradise.

There is not a running stream throughout Jaisalmer; but there are many

temporary lakes or salt-marshes, termed _sar_, formed by the collection

of waters from the sand-hills, which are easily dammed in to prevent

escape. They are ephemeral, seldom lasting but a few months; though

after a very severe monsoon they have been known to remain throughout

the year. One of these, called the Kanod Sar, extends from Kanod[7.7.5]

to Mohangarh, covering a space of eighteen miles, and in which some

water remains throughout the year. When it overflows, a small stream

issues from the Sar, and pursues an easterly direction for thirty miles

before it is absorbed; its existence [281] depends on the parent lake.

The salt which it produces is the property of the crown, and adds

something to the revenue.

=Soil, Husbandry, and Products.=—Notwithstanding the apparent poverty of

this desert soil, nature has not denied it the powers of production; it

is even favourable to some grains, especially the bajra, which prefers a

light sand. In a favourable season they grow sufficient for the

consumption of two and even three years, and then they import only wheat

from Sind. When those parts favourable for bajra have been saturated

with two or three heavy showers, they commence sowing, and the crops

spring up rapidly. The great danger is that of too much rain when the

crops are advanced, for, having little tenacity, they are often washed

away. The _bajra_ of the sand-hills is deemed far superior to that of

Hindustan, and prejudice gives it a preference even to wheat, which does

not bear a higher price, in times of scarcity. Bajra, in plentiful

seasons, sells at one and a half maunds for a rupee;[7.7.6] but this

does not often occur, as they calculate five bad seasons for a good one.

Juar is also grown, but only in the low flats. Cotton is produced in the

same soil as the bajra. It is not generally known that this plant

requires but a moderate supply of water; it is deteriorated in the

plains of India from over-irrigation; at least such is the idea of the

desert-farmer, who perhaps does not make sufficient allowance for the

cooler substratum of his sand-hills, compared with the black loam of

Malwa. A variety of pulses grows on the sheltered sides of the _tibas_,

as _mung_, _moth_, etc.; also the oil-plant (_til_) and abundance of the

_gawar_, a diminutive melon, not larger than a hen’s egg, which is sent

hundreds of miles, as a rarity. Around the capital, and between the

ridges where soil is deposited or formed, and where they dam up the

waters, are grown considerable quantities of wheat of very good quality,

turmeric, and garden-stuffs. Barley and gram are, in good seasons,

reared in small quantities, but rice is entirely an article of import

from the valley of Sind.

=Implements of Husbandry.=—Where the soil is light, it will be concluded

that the implements are simple. They have two kinds of plough, for one

or two oxen, or for the camel, which animal is most in requisition. They

tread out the grain with oxen, as in all parts of India, and not

unfrequently they yoke the cattle to their hakerries,[7.7.7] or carts,

and pass the whole over the grain.

=Manufactures.=—There is little scope for the ingenuity of the mechanic

in this tract. They make coarse cotton cloths, but the raw material is

almost all exported. Their grand article of manufacture is from the wool

of the sheep pastured in the desert [282], which is fabricated into

_lois_, or blankets, scarfs,[7.7.8] petticoats, turbans, of every

quality. Cups and platters are made from a mineral called _abrak_, a

calcareous substance, of a dark chocolate ground, with light brown

vermiculated stripes;[7.7.9] female ornaments of elephants’ teeth, and

arms of an inferior quality. These comprehend the artificial productions

of this desert capital.

=Commerce.=—Whatever celebrity Jaisalmer possesses, as a commercial

mart, arises from its position as a place of transit between the eastern

countries, the valley of the Indus, and those beyond that stream, the

Kitars (the term for a caravan of camels) to and from Haidarabad,

Rori-Bakhar, Shikarpur and Uchh, from the Gangetic provinces, and the

Panjab, passing through it. The indigo of the Duab, the opium of Kotah

and Malwa, the famed sugar-candy of Bikaner, iron implements from

Jaipur, are exported to Shikarpur[7.7.10] and lower Sind; whence

elephants’ teeth (from Africa), dates, coco-nuts, drugs, and

chandan,[7.7.11] are imported, with pistachios and dried fruits from

Bahawalpur.

=Revenues and Taxes.=—The personal revenue of the princes of

Jaisalmer[7.7.12] is, or rather was, estimated at upwards of four lakhs

of rupees, of which more than one lakh was from the land.[7.7.13] The

transit duties were formerly the most certain and most prolific branch

of the fiscal income; but the bad faith of the minister, the predatory

habits of the Bhatti chiefs proceeding mainly from thence, and the

general decrease of commerce, have conspired nearly to annihilate this

source of income, said at one time to reach three lakhs of rupees. These

imposts are termed _dan_, and the collector _dani_, who was stationed at

convenient points of all the principal routes which diverge from the

capital.

=Land-tax.=—From one-fifth to one-seventh of the gross produce of the

land is set aside as the tax of the crown, never exceeding the first nor

falling short of the last.[7.7.14] It is paid in kind, which is

purchased on the spot by the Paliwal Brahmans, or Banias, and the value

remitted to the treasury [283].

=Dhuan.=—The third and now the most certain branch of revenue is the

_dhuan_, literally ‘smoke,’ and which we may render ‘chimney or

hearth-tax,’ though they have neither the one nor the other in these

regions. It is also termed _thali_, which is the brass or silver platter

out of which they eat, and is tantamount to a table-allowance. It never

realizes above twenty thousand rupees annually, which, however, would be

abundant for the simple fare of Jaisalmer. No house is exempt from the

payment of this tax.

=Dand.=—There is an arbitrary tax levied throughout these regions,

universally known and detested under the name of _dand_, the make-weight

of all their budgets of ways and means. It was first imposed in

Jaisalmer in S. 1830 (A.D. 1774), under the less odious appellation of

‘additional _dhuan_ or _thali_,’ and the amount was only two thousand

seven hundred rupees, to be levied from the monied interest of the

capital. The Mahesris[7.7.15] agreed to pay their share, but the Oswals

(the two chief mercantile classes) holding out, were forcibly sent up to

the castle, and suffered the ignominious punishment of the bastinado.

They paid the demand, but immediately on their release entered into a

compact on oath, never again to look on the Rawal’s (Mulraj’s) face,

which was religiously kept during their mutual lives. When he passed

through the streets of his capital, the Oswals abandoned their shops and

banking-houses, retiring to the interior of their habitations in order

to avoid the sight of him. This was strenuously persevered in for many

years, and had such an effect upon the prince, that he visited the

principal persons of this class, and ‘spreading his scarf’ (_pala

pasarna_),[7.7.16] intreated forgiveness, giving a writing on oath never

again to impose _dand_, if they would make the _dhuan_ a permanent tax.

The Oswals accepted the repentance of their prince, and agreed to his

terms. In S. 1841 and 1852, his necessities compelling him to raise

money, he obtained by loan, in the first period, twenty-seven thousand,

and in the latter, forty thousand rupees, which he faithfully repaid.

When the father of the present minister came into power, he endeavoured

to get back the bond of his sovereign abrogating the obnoxious _dand_,

and offered, as a bait, to renounce the _dhuan_. The Oswals placed more

value on the virtue of this instrument than it merited, for in spite of

the bond, he in S. 1857 levied sixty thousand, and in 1863, eighty

thousand rupees. A visit of the Rawal to the Ganges was seized upon as a

fit opportunity by his subjects to get this oppression redressed, and

fresh oaths were made by the prince, and broken by the minister, who has

bequeathed his rapacious spirit to his son [284].

Since the accession of Gaj Singh, only two years ago,[7.7.17] Salim

Singh has extorted fourteen lakhs (£140,000). Bardhman, a merchant of

great wealth and respectability, and whose ancestors are known and

respected throughout Rajwara as Sahukars, has been at various times

stripped of all his riches by the minister and his father, who, to use

the phraseology of the sufferers, “will never be satisfied while a rupee

remains in Jaisalmer.”

=Establishments, Expenditure.=—We subjoin a rough estimate of the

household establishment, etc., of this desert king:

Rupees.

Bar[7.7.18] 20,000

Rozgar Sardar[7.7.19] 40,000

Sihbandis or Mercenaries[7.7.20] 75,000

Household horse, 10 elephants, 200 camels, and 36,000

chariots

—-——

Carry forward 171,000

Brought forward 171,000

500 Bargir[7.7.21] horse 60,000

Rani’s or queen’s establishment 15,000

The wardrobe 5,000

Gifts 5,000

The kitchen 5,000

Guests, in hospitality 5,000

Feasts, entertainments 5,000

Annual purchase of horses, camels, oxen, etc. 20,000

—-—-—

TOTAL Rs.

291,000

—-—-—

The ministers and officers of government receive assignments on the

transit-duties, and some have lands. The whole of this State-expenditure

was more than covered, in some years, by the transit-duties alone; which

have, it is asserted, amounted to the almost incredible sum of three

lakhs, or £30,000.

=Tribes.=—We shall conclude our account of Jaisalmer with a few remarks

on the [285] tribes peculiar to it; though we reserve the general

enumeration for a sketch of the desert.

Of its Rajput population, the Bhattis, we have already given an outline

in the general essay on the tribes.[7.7.22] Those which occupy the

present limits of Jaisalmer retain their Hindu notions, though with some

degree of laxity from their intercourse with the Muhammadans on the

northern and western frontiers; while those which long occupied the

north-east tracts, towards Phulra and the Gara, on becoming proselytes

to Islam ceased to have either interest in or connexion with the parent

State. The Bhatti has not, at present, the same martial reputation as

the Rathor, Chauhan, or Sesodia, but he is deemed at least to equal if

not surpass the Kachhwaha, or any of its kindred branches, Naruka or

Shaikhavat. There are occasional instances of Bhatti intrepidity as

daring as may be found amongst any other tribe; witness the feud between

the chiefs of Pugal and Mandor. But this changes not the national

characteristic as conventionally established; though were we to go back

to the days of chivalry and Prithiraj, we should select Achalesa Bhatti,

one of the bravest of his champions, for the portrait of his race. The

Bhatti Rajput, as to physical power, is not perhaps so athletic as the

Rathor, or so tall as the Kachhwaha, but generally fairer than either,

and possessing those Jewish features which Mr. Elphinstone remarked as

characteristic of the Bikaner Rajputs. The Bhatti intermarries with all

the families of Rajwara, though seldom with the Ranas of Mewar. The late

Jagat Singh of Jaipur had five wives of this stock, and his posthumous

son, real or reputed, has a Bhattiani for his mother.[7.7.23]

=Dress.=—The dress of the Bhattis consists of a _jama_, or tunic of

white cloth or chintz reaching to the knee; the _kamarband_, or

ceinture, tied so high as to present no appearance of waist; trousers

very loose, and in many folds, drawn tight at the ankle, and a turban,

generally of a scarlet colour, rising conically full a foot from the

head. A dagger is stuck in the waistband; a shield is suspended by a

thong of deer-skin from the left shoulder, and the sword is girt by a

belt of the same material. The dress of the common people is the

_dhoti_, or loin-robe, generally of woollen stuff, with a piece of the

same material as a turban. The dress of the Bhattianis, which

discriminates the sex, consists of a _ghaghra_, or petticoat, extending

to thirty feet in width, made generally of the finer woollen, dyed a

brilliant red, with a scarf of the same material. The grand ornament of

rich and poor, though varying in the materials, is the _churi_, or rings

of ivory or bone, with which they cover their arms from the shoulder to

[286] the wrist.[7.7.24] They are in value from sixteen to thirty-five

rupees a set, and imported from Maskat-Mandavi, though they also

manufacture them at Jaisalmer. Silver _karis_ (massive rings or anklets)

are worn by all classes, who deny themselves the necessaries of life

until they attain this ornament. The poorer Rajputnis are very

masculine, and assist in all the details of husbandry.

=Use of Opium.=—The Bhatti is to the full as addicted as any of his

brethren to the immoderate use of opium. To the _amalpani_, or

‘infusion,’ succeeds the pipe, and they continue inhaling mechanically

the smoke long after they are insensible to all that is passing around

them; nay, it is said, you may scratch or pinch them while in this

condition without exciting sensation. The _hukka_ is the dessert to the

_amalpani_; the panacea for all the ills which can overtake a Rajput,

and with which he can at any time enjoy a paradise of his own creation.

To ask a Bhatti for a whiff of his pipe would be deemed a direct insult.

=Pāliwāls.=—Next to the lordly Rajputs, equalling them in numbers and

far surpassing them in wealth, are the Paliwals. They are Brahmans, and

denominated Paliwal from having been temporal proprietors of Pali, and

all its lands, long before the Rathors colonized Marwar. Tradition is

silent as to the manner in which they became possessed of this domain;

but it is connected with the history of the Pali, or pastoral tribes,

who from the town of Pali to Palitana, in Saurashtra, have left traces

of their existence;[7.7.25] and I am much mistaken if it will not one

day be demonstrated, that all the ramifications of the races

figuratively denominated Agnikula, were Pali in origin; more especially

the Chauhans, whose princes and chiefs for ages retained the distinctive

affix of _pal_.

These Brahmans, the Paliwals, as appears by the Annals of Marwar, held

the domain of Pali when Siahji, at the end of the twelfth century,

invaded that land from Kanauj, and by an act of treachery first

established his power.[7.7.26] It is evident, however, that he did not

extirpate them, for the cause of their migration to the desert of

Jaisalmer [287] is attributed to a period of a Muhammadan invasion of

Marwar, when a general war-contribution (_dand_) being imposed on the

inhabitants, the Paliwals pleaded caste, and refused. This exasperated

the Raja; for as their habits were almost exclusively mercantile, their

stake was greater than that of the rest of the community, and he threw

their principal men into prison. In order to avenge this, they had

recourse to a grand _chandni_, or ‘act of suicide’; but instead of

gaining their object, he issued a manifesto of banishment to every

Paliwal in his dominions. The greater part took refuge in Jaisalmer,

though many settled in Bikaner, Dhat, and the valley of Sind. At one

time their number in Jaisalmer was calculated to equal that of the

Rajputs. Almost all the internal trade of the country passes through

their hands, and it is chiefly with their capital that its merchants

trade in foreign parts. They are the Metayers of the desert, advancing

money to the cultivators, taking the security of the crop; and they buy

up all the wool and _ghi_ (clarified butter), which they transport to

foreign parts. They also rear and keep flocks. The minister, Salim

Singh, has contrived to diminish their wealth, and consequently to lose

the main support of the country’s prosperity. They are also subject to

the visits of the Maldots, Tejmallots, and other plunderers; but they

find it difficult to leave the country owing to the restrictive cordon

of the Mehta. The Paliwals never marry out of their own tribe; and,

directly contrary to the laws of Manu,[7.7.27] the bridegroom gives a

sum of money to the father of the bride. It will be deemed a curious

incident in the history of superstition, that a tribe, Brahman by name,

at least, should worship the bridle of a horse. When to this is added

the fact that the most ancient coins discovered in these regions bear

the Pali character and the effigies of the horse, it aids to prove the

Scythic character of the early colonists of these regions, who, although

nomadic (Pali), were equestrian. There is little doubt that the Paliwal

Brahmans are the remains of the priests of the Pali race, who, in their

pastoral and commercial pursuits, have lost their spiritual

power.[7.7.28]

=Pokharna Brāhmans.=— Another singular tribe, also Brahmanical, is the

Pokharna, of whom it is calculated there are fifteen hundred to two

thousand families in Jaisalmer. They are also numerous in Marwar and

Bikaner, and are scattered over the desert and valley of the Indus. They

follow agricultural and pastoral pursuits chiefly, having little or no

concern in trade. The tradition of their origin is singular; it is said

that they were Beldars, and excavated the sacred lake of Pushkar or

Pokhar, for which act they obtained the favour of the deity and the

grade of Brahmans, with the title of Pokharna. Their chief object of

emblematic worship, the _kudala_, a kind of pick-axe used in digging,

seems to favour this tradition [288].[7.7.29]

=Jats or Jāts.=—The Jats here, as elsewhere, form a great part of the

agricultural population; there are also various other tribes, which will

be better described in a general account of the desert.

=Castle of Jaisalmer.=—The castle of this desert king is erected on an

almost insulated peak, from two hundred to two hundred and fifty feet in

height, a strong wall running round the crest of the hill. It has four

gates, but very few cannon mounted. The city is to the north, and is

surrounded by a _shahrpanah_, or circumvallation, encompassing a space

of nearly three miles, having three gates and two wickets. In the city

are some good houses belonging to rich merchants, but the greater part

consists of huts. The Raja’s palace is said to possess some pretension

to grandeur, perhaps comparative.[7.7.30] Were he on good terms with his

vassalage, he could collect for its defence five thousand infantry and

one thousand horse, besides his camel-corps; but it may be doubted

whether, under the oppressive system of the monster who has so long

continued to desolate that region, one half of this force could be

brought together [289].[7.7.31]

-----

Footnote 7.7.1:

[The State, according to later surveys, lies between 26° 4´ and 28°

23´ N. lat. and 69° 30´ and 72° 42´ E. long., with an area of 16,062

square miles. In 1911 the population amounted to 80,891, that of the

capital, Jaisalmer, being 7420. There were 471 villages in the State,

the average population of which was even lower than of those in

Bikaner.]

Footnote 7.7.2:

[Rocks of Jurassic age, such as sandstone, shales, and limestone, crop

up beneath the sand, and a large area of Nummulitic rock occurs to the

N.W. of the capital (_IGI_, xiv. 1).]

Footnote 7.7.3:

[_Cenchrus catharticus._]

Footnote 7.7.4:

So Mr. Elphinstone describes the tract about Pugal, one of the

earliest possessions of the Bhattis, and one of the Naukotī Maru-ki,

or ‘nine castles of the desert,’ around whose sand-hills as brave a

colony was reared and maintained as ever carried lance. Rao Raning was

lord of Pugal, whose son originated that episode given on p. 733. Even

these sand-hills which in November appeared to Mr. Elphinstone without

a sign of vegetation, could be made to yield good crops of bajra.

Footnote 7.7.5:

[About 20 miles N.W. of Jaisalmer city.]

Footnote 7.7.6:

About a hundredweight for two shillings.

Footnote 7.7.7:

[Hindustāni _chhakra_, ‘a cart’ (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 407

f.).]

Footnote 7.7.8:

I brought home several pairs of these, with crimson borders,

sufficiently fine to be worn as a winter shawl in this country.

Footnote 7.7.9:

[Commonly known as soapstone or potstone, a soft magnesian or talcose

mineral (Watt, _Comm. Prod._ 1049 f.).]

Footnote 7.7.10:

Shikarpur, the great commercial mart of the valley of Sind, west of

the Indus.

Footnote 7.7.11:

Chandan is a scented wood for _malas_, or ‘chaplets.’ [Sandalwood,

_Pterocarpus santalinus_ (Watt, _Comm. Prod._ 909).]

Footnote 7.7.12:

I have no correct data for estimating the revenues of the chieftains.

They are generally almost double the land-revenue of the princes in

the other States of Rajwara; perhaps about two lakhs, which ought to

bring into the field seven hundred horse.

Footnote 7.7.13:

[The normal revenue at present is about one lakh of rupees. The

transit duties have been largely reduced.]

Footnote 7.7.14:

This, if strictly true and followed, is according to ancient

principles; Manu ordains the sixth. I could have wished Colonel Briggs

to have known this fact, when he was occupied on his excellent work on

_The Land-tax of India_; but it had entirely escaped my recollection.

In this most remote corner of Hindustan, in spite of oppression, it is

curious to observe the adherence to primitive custom. These notes on

the sources of revenue in Jaisalmer were communicated to me so far

back as 1811, and I laid them before the Bengal Government in 1814-15.

Footnote 7.7.15:

[The Mahesri trading class, which derive their name from that of their

caste deity, Mahesh, ‘the great lord,’ a title of Siva or Mahādeo,

claim descent from Chauhān, Parihār, or Solanki Rājputs (_Census

Report, Mārwār, 1891_, ii. 131).]

Footnote 7.7.16:

_Pala pasārna_, or ‘to spread the cloth or scarf,’ is the figurative

language of entreaty, arising from the act of spreading the garment,

preparatory to bowing the head thereon in token of perfect submission.

Footnote 7.7.17:

This was written in 1821-22.

Footnote 7.7.18:

The _Bar_ includes the whole household or personal attendants, the

guards, and slaves. They receive rations of food, and make up the rest

of their subsistence by labour in the town. The _Bar_ consists of

about 1000 people, and is estimated to cost 20,000 rupees annually.

Footnote 7.7.19:

Rozgar-Sardar is an allowance termed _kansa_, or ‘dinner,’ to the

feudal chieftains who attend the Presence. Formerly they had an order

upon the Danis, or collectors of the transit-duties; but being

vexatious, Pansa Sah, minister to Rawal Chaitra, commuted it for a

daily allowance, varying, with the rank of the person, from half a

silver rupee to seven rupees each, daily. This disbursement is

calculated at 40,000 rupees annually.

Footnote 7.7.20:

Sihbandis are mercenary soldiers in the fort, of whom 1000 are

estimated to cost 75,000 rupees annually. [The word seems to mean

‘persons paid quarterly’ (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 805).]

Footnote 7.7.21:

[A man riding his own horse was called Silahdār, ‘equipment-holder’;

one riding a horse belonging to the State or to some one else was

Bārgīr, ‘burden-taker’ (Irvine, _Army of the Indian Moghuls_, 37).]

Footnote 7.7.22:

Vol. I. p. 102.

Footnote 7.7.23:

[Bhatti women have a reputation for strength and beauty. One of them

was the mother of Fīroz Shāh Tughlak (Elliot-Dowson iii. 272).]

Footnote 7.7.24:

The churi of ivory, bone, or shell is the most ancient ornament of the

Indo-Scythic dames, and appears in old sculpture and painting. [For

bangles made of conch-shell, see J. Hornell, _The Sacred Chank of

India_, Madras, 1914.] I was much struck with some ancient sculptures

in a very old Gothic church at Moissac, in Languedoc. The porch is the

only part left of this most antique fane, attributed to the age of

Dagobert. It represents the conversion of Clovis, and when the subject

was still a matter of novelty. But interesting as this is, it is as

nothing when compared to some sculptured figures below, of a totally

distinct age; in execution as far superior as they are dissimilar in

character, which is decidedly Asiatic; the scarf, the _champakali_ or

necklace, representing the buds of the jessamine (_champa_), and

_churis_, such as I have been describing. To whom but the Visigoths

can we ascribe them?—and does not this supply the connecting link of

this Asiatic race, destined to change the moral aspect of Europe? [?]

I recommend all travellers, who are interested in tracing such

analogies, to visit the church at Moissac, though it is not known as

an object of curiosity in the neighbourhood.

Footnote 7.7.25:

[There is no evidence in support of this suggestion.]

Footnote 7.7.26:

See p. 942.

Footnote 7.7.27:

[_Laws_, iii. 31.]

Footnote 7.7.28:

[For the Pāliwāl Brāhmans see J. Wilson, _Indian Caste_, ii. 119;

_Census Report, Mārwār, 1891_, ii. 79 f.]

Footnote 7.7.29:

[See _Census Report, Mārwār, 1891_, ii. 61 ff.]

Footnote 7.7.30:

[The Mahārāvali palace, the top of which is 987 feet above sea-level,

surmounts the main entrance of the fort, and is “an imposing pile

crowned by a huge umbrella of metal, a solid emblem of dignity of

which the Bhatti chiefs are justly proud; but the interior is

ill-arranged, and space is frittered away in numberless small

apartments” (Erskine iii. A. 38).]

Footnote 7.7.31:

It has been reported that the dagger has since rid the land of its

tyrant. The means matter little, if the end is accomplished. Even

assassination loses much of its odious character when resorted to for

such a purpose. [Gaj Singh died in his bed in 1846.]

-----

_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Transcriber’s Note

There are references to Genealogical Tables in Volume I, which were not

reprinted in this Crooke edition.

The spelling of names and places is variable, as noted in the Editor’s

introduction to Volume I, as the system of transliteration underwent

many changes in the intervening century. The use of macrons was not yet

introduced in James Tod’s day. This text, with very few exceptions,

follows the text as printed.

Hyphenation of compound words follows the text, with the rare exception

of when it occurs on a line break and the preponderance of other

instances provides clear guidance.

On p. 703, Tod’s note 28 gives the Persian character ﺙ as ‘p’. The

character pe (پ) has the three points below, not above.

Where punctuation is suspect, the correct solution was sought in the

text of Tod’s original edition.

Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and

are noted here.

This list contains issues in the main text. References are to the page

and line in the original.

618.25 for the protection of the temple[.] Added.

656.38 may [i]nfluence the manners of a nation. Inserted.

664.15 the glorious [of memory/memory of] his Words

ancestor transposed.

672.2 died a natural death[.] Added.

682.20 or split-ear ascetics[.] Added.

709.18 Leur sort est un[e] boussole sûr[e] pour le Added.

premier regard

719.8 [“]separated from his mate Added.

719.26 _asis_ (blessing[)] Added.

726.14 [“]The king sought the bard Added.

727.8 [“]In vain she sought the rings of his corslet Removed.

755.16 [‘/“]all’s well,” Replaced.

860.20 with the _tika_ and gifts, [and gifts, ]and Removed.

other symbols

866.23 was father-in[ /-]law to his rival Replaced.

895.34 which we do not fail to encourage[.] Added.

898.19 there occurs a ri[g/c]hly carved corbeille Replaced.

915.3 Such is the Jit’h[a] Added.

933.25 see [Table I. Vol. I.] Not

reprinted.

959.22 every part o[f] Rajputana Added.

964.2 which would otherwise perish[.] Added.

1035.10 for the persecutor of Durgadas[.] Added.

1060.13 out of Maru[:/.] Replaced.

1113.29 or courts o[r/f] arbitration Replaced.

The following list contains issues corrected or noted in the footnote

text. The reference is to the original page, the resequenced note

number, and the line within the note.

602.4.5 that he m[i]raculously Restored.

725.1.1 History of the Late Revolution o[f] the Empire Restored.

750.1.24 _Rāsmāla_, 557[)]. Removed.

819.3.3 (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed. 15[)]. Added.

884.3.13 ‘city of the heavenly choristers.[’] Added.

839.2.2 (Erskine iii. A. 196[)]. Added.

934.1.1 (_IGI_, xv. 398[)]. Added.

935.4.1 classically Vijayapala, ‘Fosterer of Added.

Victory.[’]

948.2.12 [“]Even in this, is there much vanity,” Added.

1037.4.2 rather Nāgapura[./,] capital of the Nāga sept Replaced.

1084.2.1 [Nineteen miles S.W. of Bikaner city.[]] Added.

1118.3.1 see Watt, _op. cit._ 112 ff.[).] Removed.

1134.1.7 see Sykes, _Hist. of Persia_, i. 257[)]. Removed.

1136.1.1 Ferishta’s History of the Dek[h/k]an Replaced.

1156.1.5 (Bilimoria, _Letters of Aurangzeb_, 75.[)] Added.

1186.3.9 See Map, Vol. I. Actually,

Vol. III.

1194.1.70 and many others[)]. Added.

1197.37 Rae S[e/a]hra and his tribe of Langaha Replaced.

1221.1.3 [(]Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 353 f.; _ASR_, ii. Added.

17).