Mewar 14: Banbir rules Mewar
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Mewar 14: Banbir rules Mewar
Rana Banbir Singh, a.d. 1535-37
A few hours of sovereignty sufficed to check those ' compunctious visitings ' which assailed Banbir ere he assumed its trappings, with which he found himself so little encumbered that he was content to wear them for life. Whether this was the intention of the nobles who set aside the unworthy son of Sanga, there is abundant reason to doubt ; and as he is subsequently branded with the epithet of ' usurper ' it was probably limited, though unexpressed, to investing him with the executive authority during the minority of Udai Singh. Banbir, however, only awaited the approach of night to remove with his own hands the obstacle to his ambition.
The Escape of Udai Singh, the Heir
Udai Singh was about six years of age. " He had gone to sleep after his rice and milk," when his nurse was alarmed by screams from the rawala,1 and the Bari 2 coming in to take away the remains of the dinner, informed her of the cause, the assassination of the Rana. Aware that one murder was the precursor of another, the faithful nurse put her 1 The seraglio, or female palace. 2 Bari, Nai, are names for the barbers, who are the cuisiniers of the Rajputs. [The special duty of the Bari is making leaf -platters from which Hindus eat : he is also a domestic servant, but does not, like the Nai, work as a barber.] charge into a fruit basket and, covering it with leaves, she de livered it to the Bari, enjoining him to escape with it from the fort. Scarcely had she time to substitute her own infant in the room of the prince, when Banbir, entering, inquired for him. Her lips refused their ofBce ; she pointed to the cradle, and beheld the murderous steel buried in the heart of her babe [316]. The little victim to fidelity was burnt amidst the tears of the rawala, the inconsolable household of their late sovereign, who supposed that their grief was given to the last pledge of the illustrious Sanga. The nurse (Dhai) was a Rajputni of the Khichi tribe, her name Panna, or ' the Diamond.' Having consecrated with her tears the ashes of her child, she hastened after that she had preserved. But well had it been for Mewar had the poniard fulfilled its in tention, and had the annals never recorded the name of Udai Singh in the catalogue of her princes.
The faithful barber was awaiting the nurse in the bed of the Berach River, some miles west of Chitor, and fortunately the infant had not awoke until he descended the city. They departed for Deolia, and sought refuge with Singh Rao, the successor to Baghji, who fell for Chitor ; who dreading the consequence of detection, they proceeded to Dungarpur. Rawal Askaran then ruled this principality, which, as well as Deolia, was not only a branch, but the elder branch, of Chitor. With every wish to afford a shelter, he pleaded the danger which threatened himself and the child in such a feeble sanctuary. Pursuing a circuitous route through Idar, and the intricate valleys of the Aravalli, by the help and with the protection of its wild inmates, the Bhils, she gained Kumbhaimer. The resolution she had formed was bold as it was judicious. She demanded an interview with the governor, Asa Sail his name, of the mercantile tribe of Depra,1 and a follower of the theistical tenets of the Jains. The interview being granted, she placed the infant in his lap, and bid him " guard the life of his sovereign.'" He felt perplexed and alarmed : but his mother, who was present, upbraided him for his scruples. " Fidelity," said she, " never looks at dangers or difficulties. He is your master, the son of Sanga, and by God's blessing the result will be glorious." Having thus fulfilled her trust, the faithful Panna
1 [Dr. Tessitori states that the true form of the name is Dahipra or Dahi pura, and they seem to be the same as the Depla of Gujarat, where they are said to have been originally Lohanas {BG, ix. Part i. 122).] withdrew from Kumbhalmer to avoid the suspicion which a Rajputni about a Srawak's 1 child would have occasioned, as the heir of Chitor was declared to be the nephew of the Depra.
The Boyhood of Udai Singh
Suspicions were often excited regarding Asa's nephew ; once, especially, on the anniversary (samvatsara) of the governor's father, when " the Rajput guests being in one rank, and the men of wealth in another, young Udai seized a vessel of curds, which no intreaty could prevail on him to relinquish, deriding their threats " [317]. Seven years elapsed before the secret transpired ; at length self-revealed, from the same independent bearing. On occasion of a visit from the Sonigira chief, Udai was sent to receive him, and the dignified manner in which he performed the duty convinced the chief ' he was no nephew to the Sah.' Rumour spread the tale, and brought not only the nobles of Mewar, but adjacent chiefs, to hail the son of Sanga Rana. Sahidas of Salumbar, the representa tive of Chonda, Jaga of Kelwa, Sanga of Bagor, all chiefs of the clans of Chondawat ; the Chauhans of Kotharia and Bedla, the Pramar of Bijolia Akhiraj (Sonigira), Prithiraj of Sanchor, and Lunkaran Jethawat, repaired to Kumbhalmer, when all doubt was removed by the testimony of the nurse, and of her coadjutor in the preservation of the child.
Installation of Rana Udai Singh, a.d. 1537-72
A court was formed, when the faithful Asa Sah resigned his trust and placed the prince of Chitor ' in the lap of the Kotharia Chauhan,' as the ' great ancient ' 2 among the nobles of Mewar, who was throughout acquainted with the secret, and who, to dissipate the remaining scruples which attached to the infant's preservation, ' ate off the same platter with him.' The Sonigira Rao did not hesitate to affiance to him his daughter, and it was accepted by his advisers, notwithstanding the interdict of Hamir to any intermarriage with the Sonigira, since the insult of giving the widow to his bed. Udai received the tika of Chitor in the castle of Kumbha, and the homage of nearly all the chiefs of Mewar.
The tidings soon reached the usurper, who had not borne his 1 The laity of the Jain persuasion are so called [srdvaJc [???], meaning ' a disciple ']. 2 Bara ' great,' burha ' aged ' ; the ' wise elder ' of Rajasthan, where old age and dignity are synonymous. faculties meekly since his advancement ; but having seized on the dignity, he wished to ape all the customs of the legitimate monarchs of Chitor, and even had the effrontery to punish as an insult the refusal of one of the proud sons of Chonda to take the dauna from his bastard hand.
The Dauna, a Recognition of Legitimacy
The dauna, or daua, is a portion of the dish of which the prince partakes, sent by his own hand to whomsoever he honours at the banquet. At the rasora, or refectory, the chiefs who are admitted to dine in the presence of their sovereign are seated according to their rank. The repast is one of those occasions when an easy familiarity is permitted, which, though unrestrained, never exceeds the bounds [318] of etiquette, and the habitual reverence due to their father and prince. When he sends, by the steward of the kitchen, a portion of the dish before him, or a little from his own kansa, or plate, all eyes are guided to the favoured mortal, whose good fortune is the subject of subsequent conversation. Though, with the diminished lustre of this house, the dauna may have lost its former estimation, it is yet received with reverence ; but the extent of this feeling, even so late as the reign of Arsi Rana, the father of the reigning prince, the following anecdote will testify. In the rebellion during this prince's reign, amongst the ancient customs which became relaxed, that of bestowing the dauna was included ; and the Rana conferring it on the Rathor prince of Kishangarh, the Bijolia chief, one of the sixteen superior nobles of Mewar, rose and left the presence, observing, " Neither the Kachhwaha nor the Rathor has a right to this honour, nor can we, who regard as sanctified even the leavings of your repast, witness this degradation ; for the Thakur of Kishangarh is far beneath me." To such extent is this privilege even yet carried, and such importance is attached from habit to the personal character of the princes of Mewar, that the test of regal legitimacy in Rajasthan is admission to eat from the same plate (kansa) with the Rana : and to the refusal of this honour to the great Man Singh of Amber may be indirectly ascribed the ruin of Mewar.1
It may therefore be conceived with what contempt the
haughty nobility of Chitor received the mockery of honour from
the hand of this ' fifth son of Mewar ' ; and the Chondawat chief
had the boldness to add to his refusal, " that an honour from the
1 [On the privilege of eating with the Rana see p. 213 above.]
hand of a true son of Bappa Rawal became a disgrace when proffered
by the offspring of the handmaid Sitalseni." The defection soon
became general, and all repaired to the valley of Kumbhalmer
to hail the legitimate son of Mewar. A caravan of five hundred
horses and ten thousand oxen, laden with merchandise from
Cutch, the dower of Banbir's daughter, guarded by one thousand
Gaharwar Rajputs, was plundered in the passes : a signal intima
tion of the decay of his authority, and a timely supply to the
celebration of the nuptials of Udai Rana with the daughter of
the Rao of Jalor. Though the interdict of Hamir was not for
gotten, it was deemed that the insult given by Banbir Sonigira was
amply effaced by his successor's redemption of the usurpation
of Banbir Sesodia. The marriage was solemnized at Bali, within
the limits of Jalor, and the [319] customary offerings were sent
or given by all the princes of Rajasthan. Two chiefs only, of
any consequence, abstained from attending on their lawful prince
on this occasion, the Solanki of Maholi and Maloji of Tana. In
attacking them, the bastard was brought into conflict ; but
Maloji was slain and the Solanki surrendered.
Deposition of Rana Banbir Singh
Deserted by all, Banbir held out in the capital ; but his minister admitted, under the garb of a reinforcement with supplies, a thousand resolute adherents of the prince : the keepers of the gates were surprised and slain, and the an of Udai Singh was proclaimed. Banbir was even permitted to retire with his family and his wealth. He sought refuge in the Deccan, and the Bhonslas of Nagpur are said to derive their origin from this spurious branch of Chitor.1
Rana Udai Singh, a.d. 1537-72
Rana Udai Singh ascended the throne in S. 1597 (a.d. 1541-2). Great were the rejoicings on the restoration of this prince. ' The song of joy,' 2 which was composed on the occasion, is yet a favourite at Udaipur, and on the festival of Isani (the Ceres of Rajasthan), the females still chant in chorus the ' farewell to Kumbhalmer.' * But the evil days of Mewar which set in with Sanga's death, and were accelerated by the fiery valour of Ratna and the capricious conduct of Bik ramajit, were completed by an anomaly in her annals : a coward succeeding a bastard to guide the destinies of the Sesodias. The 1 [There seems no basis for this tradition. The Bhonslas sprang from a Maratha headman of Deora in Satara {IGI, xviii. 306).] 2 Suhaila. 3 Kumbhalmer bidaona. vices of Ratna and his brother were virtues compared to this physical defect, the consequences of which destroyed a great national feeling, the opinion of its invincibility.
His Character
" Woe to the land where a minor rules or a woman bears sway ! " exclaims the last of the great bards 1 of Rajasthan ; but where both were united, as in Mewar, the measure of her griefs was full. Udai Singh had not one quality of a sovereign ; and wanting martial virtue, the common heritage of his race, he was destitute of all. Yet he might have slumbered life away in inglorious repose during the reign of Humayun, or the contentions of the Pathan usurpation ; but, unhappily for Rajasthan, a prince was then rearing who forged fetters for the Hindu race which enthralled them for ages ; and though the corroding hand of time left but their fragments, yet even now, though emancipated, they bear the indelible marks of the manacle ; not like the galley slave's, physical and exterior, but deep mental scars, never to be effaced. Can a nation which has run its long career of glory be [320] regenerated ? Can the soul of the Greek or the Rajput be reanimated with the spark divine which defended the kunguras 2 of Chitor or the pass of Thermopylae ? Let history answer the question.
Birth of Akbar
In the same year that the song of joy was raised in the cloud-capped 3 palace of Kumbhalmer for the deliverance of Udai Singh, the note of woe was pealed through the walls of Umarkot, and given to the winds of the desert, to proclaim the birth 4 of an infant destined to be the greatest monarch who ever swayed the sceptre of Hindustan. In an oasis of the Indian desert, amidst the descendants of the ancient Sogdoi 5 of Alexander, Akbar first saw the light ; his father a fugitive, the diadem torn from his brows, its recovery more improbable than was its acquisition by Babur. The ten years which had elapsed since Humayun's accession were passed in perpetual strife with his brothers, placed according to custom in subordinate govern ments. Their selfish ambition met its reward ; for with the fall of Humayun their own was ensured, when Sher Shah displaced the dynasty of Chagatai for his own, the Pathan (or Sur). 1 Chand, the heroic bard of the last Hindu emperor. [Cf. Ecclesiastes, X. 16.] 2 Battlements. 3 Badal Mahal. 4 November 23, a.d. 1542. 5 The Sodhas, a branch of the Pramaras, see p. 111.
Defeat and Flight of Humayun, a.d. 1540
From the field of battle at Kanauj, where Humayun left his crown, his energetic opponent gave him no respite, driving him before him from Agra to Lahore. Thence, with his family and a small band of adherents, alternately protected and repelled by Hindu chieftains, he reached the valley of Sind, where he struggled to maintain himself amidst the greatest privations, attempting in succession each stronghold on the Indus, from Multan to the ocean. Foiled in every object, his associates made rebels by distress, he abandoned them for the more dubious shelter of the foes of his race. Vain were his solicitations to Jaisalmer and Jodhpur ; and though it cannot be matter of wonder that he found no commiseration from either Bhatti or Rathor, we must reprobate the unnational conduct of Maldeo, who, the Mogul historian says, attempted to make him captive. From such inhospitable treatment the royal exile escaped by again plunging into the desert, where he encountered, along with the tender objects of his solicitude, hardships of the most appalling description, until sheltered by the Sodha prince of Umarkot. The high courage and the virtues of this monarch increase that interest in his sufferings which royalty in distress never fails to awaken by its irresistible influence [321] upon our sympathies ; and they form an affecting episode in the history of Ferishta.1 Humayun, though more deeply skilled in the
1" Humayoon mounted his horse at midnight and fled towards Amercot, which is about one hundred coss from Tatta. His horse, on the way, falling down dead with fatigue, he desired Tirdi Beg, who was weU mounted, to let him have his ; but so ungenerous was this man, and so low was royalty faUen, that he refused to comply with his request. The troops of the raja being close to his heels, he was necessitated to mount a camel, till one Nidim Koka, dismounting his own mother, gave the king her horse, and, placing her on the camel, ran himself on foot by her side.
" The country through which they iied being an entire sandy desert, the troop began to be'in the utmost distress for water. Some ran mad, others fell down dead ; nothing was heard but dreadful screams and lamentations. To add, if possible, to this calamity, news arrived of the enemy's near approach. Humayoon ordered all those who could light to halt, and let the women and baggage move forward. The enemy not making their appear ance, the king rode on in front to see how it fared with his family.
" Night, in the meantime, coming on, the rear lost their way, and in the morning were attacked by a party of the enemy. Shech Ah, with about twenty brave men, resolved to sell his life dear. Having repeated the creed of martyrdom, he rushed upon the enemy, and the first arrow having reached the heart of the chief of the party, the rest were by the valour of his handful mysteries of astrology than any professed seer of his empire, appears never to have enjoyed that prescience which, according to the initiated in the science, is to be obtained from accurate observation : And coming events cast their shadows before ; for, could he, by any prophetic power, have foreseen that the cloud which then shaded his fortunes, was but the precursor of glory to his race, he would have continued his retreat from the sheltering sand-hills of Umarkot with very different sentiments from those which accompanied his flight into Persia [322].
Early Years of Akbar
Hmnayvm educated the young Akbar put to flight. The other Moguls joined in the pursuit, and took many of the camels and horses. They then continued their march, found the king sitting by a well which he had fortunately found, and gave him an account of their adventure. " Marching forward the next day from this well, they were more dis tressed than before, there being no water for two days' journey. On the fourth day of their retreat they fell in with another well, which was so deep, that the only bucket they had took a great deal of time in being wound up, and therefore a drum was beat to give notice to the caffilas when the bucket appeared, that they might repair by turns to drink. The people were so impatient for the water, that as soon as the first bucket appeared, ten or twelve of them threw themselves upon it before it quite reached the brim of the well, by which means the rope broke, and the bucket was lost, and several fell headlong after it. When this fatal accident happened, the screams and lamentations of all became loud and dreadful. Some loUing [?] out their tongues, rolled themselves in agony on the hot sand ; while others, precipitating themselves into the well, met with an immediate, and conse quently an easier death. What did not the unhappy king feel, when he saw this terrible situation of his few faithful friends !
" The next day, though they reached water, was not less fatal than the former. The camels, who had not tasted water for several days, now drank so much that the greatest part of them died. The people, also, after drink ing, complained of an oppression of the heart, and in about half an hour a great part of them expired..
" A few, with the king, after this unheard-of distress, reached Amercote. The raja, being a humane man, took compassion on their misfortunes : he spared nothing that could alleviate their miseries, or express his fidelity to the king.
" At Amercote, upon Sunday the fifth of Rigib, in the year nine hundred and forty-nine, the prince Akber was brought forth by Hamida Banu Begum. The king, after returning thanks to God, left his family under the protection of Raja Rana, and, by the aid of that prince, marched against Bicker." Dow's Ferishta [2nd ed. ii. 136 ff. Compare that of Briggs ii. 93 ff.]. in the same school of adversity in which he had studied under Babur. Between the Persian court and his ancient patrimony in Transoxiana, Kandahar, and Kashmir, twelve years were passed in every trial of fortune. During this short period, India, always the prize of valour, had witnessed in succession six 1 kings descended from the Pathan ' Lion ' {sher), of whom the last, Sikandar, was involved in the same civil broUs which brought the crown to his family. Humayun, then near Kashmir, no sooner observed the tide of events set counter to his foe, than he crossed the Indus and advanced upon Sirhind, where the Pathan soon appeared with a tumultuous array. The impetuosity of young Akbar brought on a general engagement, which the veterans deemed madness. Not so Humayun, who gave the command to his boy, whose heroism so excited all ranks, that they despised the numbers of the enemy, and gained a glorious victory. This was the presage of his future fame ; for Akbar was then but twelve years of age,2 the same period of life at which his grand father, Babur, maintained himself on the throne of Farghana. Humayun, worthy of such a son and such a sire, entered Delhi in triumph ; but he did not long enjoy His recovered crown. His death will appear extraordinary, according to the erroneous estimate formed of Eastern princes : its cause was a faU from the terrace of his library ; ' for, like every individual of his race, lie was not merely a patron of literature, but himself a scholar. Were we to contrast the literary acquirements of the Chagatai princes with those of their contemporaries of Europe, the balance of lore would be found on the side of the Asiatics, even though Elizabeth and Henry IV. of France were in the scale. Amongst the princes from the Jaxartes are historians, poets, astronomers, founders of systems of government and religion, warriors, and great captains, who claim our respect and admiration.
Akbar's Struggle for the Empire
Scarcely had Akbar been seated on the throne, when Delhi and Agra were wrested from him, and a nook of the Panjab constituted all his empire : but by the energetic valour of the great Bairam Khan, his lost sovereignty was regained with equal rapidity, and established by the wisdom 1 [Four are usually reckoned : Islam Shah, Muhammad Shah Adil, Ibrahim Shah, and Sikandar Shah.] 2 A.D. 1554. 3 [At the Sher Mandal in Parana Kila, Delhi, on January 24, 1556.]
of this Suliy 1 of Hindustan on a rock. Kalpi, Chanderi, Kalanjar, all Bundelkhand and Malwa, were soon attached to the empire, and at the early age of eighteen Akbar assumed the uncontrolled [323] direction of the State. He soon turned his attention towards the Rajputs ; and whether it was to revenge the in hospitality of Maldeo towards his father, he advanced against the Rathors, and stormed and took Merta, the second city in Marwar. Raja Biharimall [or Bahar Mall] of Amber anticipated the king, enrolled himself and son Bhagwandas amongst his vassals, gave the Chagatai a daughter to wife, and held his country as a fief of the empire. But the rebellions of the Usbek nobles, and the attempts of former princes to regain their lost power, checked for a time his designs upon Rajasthan. These matters adjusted, and the petty sovereigns in the East (to whom the present monarch of Oudh is as Alexander) subjected to authority, he readily seized upon the provocation which the sanctuary given to Baz Bahadur of Malwa and the ex-prince of Narwar afforded, to turn his arms against Chitor.2
