Mewar 28: Pillage in Mewar
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Mewar 28: Pillage in Mewar
Pillage in Mewar
Durjan Sal (Khichi), with the nobles of Mewar, hovered round Nana's camp with five thousand horse to cut off his supplies ; but Thomas escorted the convoys from Shahpura with his regulars, and defied all their efforts. Thomas at length advanced his batteries against Lakwa, on whose position a general assault was about taking place, when a tremendous storm, with torrents of rain which filled the stream, cut off his batteries from the main body, burst the gates of Shahpura, his point d'appui, and laid the town in ruins. 2 Lakwa seized the moment, and with the Mewar chiefs stormed and carried the isolated batteries, capturing fifteen pieces of cannon ; and the Shahpura Raja, threatened at once by his brother-nobles and the vengeance of heaven, refused further provision to Nana, who was compelled to abandon his position and retreat to Sanganer. The discomfited lieutenant vowed vengeance against the estates of the Mewar chieftains, and after the rains, being reinforced by Ambaji, again took the field. Then commenced a scene of carnage, pillage, and individual defence. The whole of the Chondawat estates under the Aravalli range were laid waste, their castles assaulted, some taken and destroyed, and heavy sums levied on all. Thomas besieged Deogarh and Amet, and both fought and paid. Kasital and Lasani were captured, and the latter razed for its gallant resistance. Thus they were pro ceeding in the work of destruction, when Ambaji [454] was dispossessed of the government of Hindustan, to which liakwa was nominated,' and Nana was compelled to surrender all the fortresses and towns he held in Mewar.
1 Both camps were on the right bank of the Banas : Lakwa's at Amh, about ten miles south of Shahpura, and Nana's at Kadera, between these towns. 2 Lakwa at this time [S. 1856, a.d. 1799] put the Shahpura Raja in pos session of the important fortress and district of Jahazpur, which, although the Rana consented to it, covertly receiving from the Raja two lakhs of rupees, disgusted the nobles with Lakwa. 3 Balabha Tantia and Bakhshu Narayan Rao were Sindhia's ministers at this period, of the same tribe (the Shenvi) as Lakwa.
Daulat Rao Sindhia reduces Mewar
From this period must be dated the pretensions of Sindhia to consider Mewar as tributary to him. We have traced the rise of the Mahrattas, and the progress of their baneful influence in Mewar. The abstractions of territory from S. 1826 to 1831 [a.d. 1769-74], as pledges for contributions, satisfied their avarice till 1848 [a.d. 1791], when the Salumbar rebellion brought the great Sindhia to Chitor, leaving Ambaji as his lieutenant, with a subsidiary force, to recover the Rana's lost possessions. We have related how these conditions were fulfilled ; how Ambaji, inflated with the wealth of Mewar, assumed almost regal dignity in Hindustan, assigning the devoted land to be governed by his deputies, whose contest with other aspirants made this unhappy region the stage for constant struggles for supremacy ; and while the secret policy of Zalim Singh stimulated the Saktawats to cling to Ambaji, the Chondawats gave their influence and interest to his rival Lakwa. The unhappy Rana and the peasantry paid for this rivalry ; while Sindhia, whose power was now in its zenith, fastened one of his desultory armies on Mewar, in contravention of former treaties, without any definite views, or even instructions to its commander. It was enough that a large body should supply itself without assailing him for prey, and whose services were available when required.
Lakwa Dada Maratha Viceroy
Lakwa, the new viceroy, marched to Mewar : Agarji Mehta was appointed minister to the Rana, and the Chondawats again came into power. For the sum of six lakhs Lakwa dispossessed the Shahpura of Jahazpur, for the liquidation of which thirty-six of its towns were mortgaged. Zalim Singh, who had long been manoeuvring to obtain Jahazpur, administered to the necessities of the Mahratta, paid the note of hand, and took possession of the city and its villages. A contri bution of twenty-four lakhs was imposed throughout the country, and levied by force of arms, after which first act of the new viceroy he quitted Mewar for Jaipur, leaving Jaswant Rao Bhao as his deputy. Mauji Ram, the deputy of Agarji (the Rana's minister), determined to adopt the European mode of discipline, now become general amongst all the native powers of India. But when the chiefs were [455] called upon to contribute to the support of mercenary regulars and a field-artillery, they evinced their patriotism by confining this zealous minister. Satidas was once more placed in power, and his brother Sheodas recalled from Kotah, whither he had fled from the Chondawats, who now appropriated to themselves the most valuable portions of the Rana's personal doinain.
Holkar defeated at Indore. Plunder of Nathdwara
The battle of Indore, 1 in a.d. 1802, where at least 150,000 men assembled to dispute the claim to predatory empire, wrested the ascendancy from Holkar, who lost his guns, equipage, and capital, from which he fled to Mewar, pursued by Sindhia's victorious army led by Sadasheo and Bala Rao. In his flight he plundered Ratlam, and passing Bhindar, the castle of the Sakta wat chief, he demanded a contribution, from which and his meditated visit to Udaipur, the Rana and his vassal were saved by the activity of the purstiit. Failing in these objects, Holkar retreated on Nathdwara, the celebrated shrine of the Hindu Apollo. 2 It was here this active soldier first showed symptoms of mental derangement. He upbraided Krishna, while prostrate before his image, for the loss of his victory ; and levied three lakhs of rupees on the priests and inhabitants, several of whom he carried to his camp as hostages for the payment. The portal (dwara) of the god (Nath) proving no bar either to Turk or equally impious Mahratta, Damodarji, the high priest, removed the god of Vraj from his pedestal and sent him with his establishment to Udaipur for protection. The Chauhan chief of Kotharia (one of the sixteen nobles), in whose estate was the sacred fane, undertook the duty, and with twenty horsemen, his vassals, escorted the shepherd god by intricate passes to the capital. On his return he was intercepted by a band of Holkar's troops, who insultingly desired the surrender of their horses. But the descendant of the illustrious Prithiraj preferred death to dishonour : dismounting, he hamstrung his steed, commanding his vassals to follow his example ; and sword in hand courted his fate in the unequal conflict, in which he fell, with most of his gallant retainers. There are many such isolated exploits in the records of this eventful period, of which the Chauhans of Kotharia had their full share. Spoil, from whatever source, being welcome to these depre dators, Nathdwara 3 remained long abandoned ; and Apollo, after
1 [October U, 1801 (Grant Duff 555).] 2 [Krishna.] 3 Five-and-twenty [about thirty] miles north of Udaipur. On this sub ject we shall have much to say hereafter. six months' residence at Udaipur, finding [456] insufiRcient protec tion, took another flight to the mountains of Ghasyar, where the high priest threw up fortifications for his defence ; and spiritual thunders being disregarded, the pontiff henceforth buckled on the armour of flesh, and at the head of four hundred cavaliers with lance and shield, visited the minor shrines in his extensive diocese.
The Inroad of Holkar
To return to Holkar. He pursued his route by Banera and Shahpura, levying from both, to Ajmer, where he distributed a portion of the offerings of the followers of Krishna amongst the priests of Muham.mad at the mosque of Khwaja Pir. Thence he proceeded towards Jaipur, Sindhia's leaders on reaching Mewar renounced the pursuit, and Udaipur was cursed with their presence, when three lakhs of rupees were extorted from the unfortunate Rana, raised by the sale of house hold effects and the jewels of the females of his family. Jaswant Rao Bhao, the Subahdar of Mewar, had prepared another schedule (pandhri), which he left with Tantia, his deputy, to realize. Then the attack of the chieftain's estates, distraining of the husbandman, seizure of his cattle, and his captivity for ransom, or his exile.
Mewar Quarrels
The celebrated Lakwa, disgraced by his prince, died at this time 1 in sanctuary at Salumbar ; and Bala Rao, brother to Ambaji, returned, and was joined by the Sakta wats and the minister Satidas, who expelled the Chondawats for their control over the prince. Zalim Singh, in furtherance of his schemes and through hatred of the Chondawats, united himself to this faction, and Devi Chand, minister to the Rana, set up by the Chondawats, was made prisoner. Bala Rao levied and destroyed their estates with unexampled ferocity, which produced a bold attempt at deliverance. The Chondawat leaders assembled at the Chaugan (the Champ de Mars) to consult on their safety. The insolent Mahratta had preceded them to the palace, demand ing the surrender of the minister's deputy, Mauji Ram. The the Mahratta importuned, threatened, and at length commanded his troops to advance to the palace, when the intrepid minister pinioned the audacious plunderers, and secured his adherents (including their old enemy. Nana Ganesh), Janialkar, and Uda Kunwar. The latter, a 1 S. 1859 (a.d. 1803). notorious villain, had an elephant's chain put round his neck, while Bala Rao was confined in a bath. The [457] leaders thus arrested, the Chondawats sallied forth and attacked their camp in the valley, which surrendered ; though the regulars under Hearsey 1 retreated in a hollow square, and reached Gadarmala in safety. Zalim Singh determined to liberate his friend Bala Rao from peril ; and aided by the Saktawats under the chiefs of Bhindar and Lawa, advanced to the Chaija Pass, one of the defiles leading to the capital. Had the Rana put these chiefs to instant death, he would have been justified, although he would have incurred the resentment of the whole Mahratta nation. Instead of this, he put himself at the head of a motley levy of six thousand Sindis, Arabs, and Gosains, with the brave Jai Singh and a band of his gallant Khichis, ever ready to poise the lance against a Mahratta. They defended the pass for five days against a powerful artillery. At length the Rana was compelled to liberate Bala Rao, and Zalim Singh obtained by this inter ference possession of the fortress and entire district of Jahazpur. A schedule of war contribution, the usual finale to these events, followed Bala's liberation, and no means were left untried to realize the exaction, before Holkar, then approaching, could contest the spoil.
Holkar plunders Udaipur
This chief, having recruited his shattered forces, again left the south. 2 Bhindar felt his resent ment for non-compliance with his demands on his retreat after the battle of Indore ; the town was nearly destroyed, but spared for two lakhs of rupees, for the payment of which villages were assigned. Thence he repaired to Udaipur, being met by Ajit Singh, the Rana's ambassador, when the enormous sum of forty lakhs, or £500,000, was demanded from the country, of which one-third was commanded to be instantly forthcoming. The palace was denuded of everything which could be converted into gold ; the females were deprived of every article of luxury and comfort : by which, with contributions levied on the city, twelve lakhs were
1 [Hyder Young Hearsey (1782-3-1840), son of Captain Harry Thomas Hearsey by a Jat lady, served Sindhia under Perron, and also George Thomas, joined Lord Lake at Dig in 1804 : taken prisoner in the Nepal war of 1815 : . present at the siege of Bharatpur : died near Budaun (Buckland, Diet. Indian Biography, s.v.).] 2 In S. 1860 (A.D. 1804). obtained ; while hostages from the household of the Rana and chief citizens were delivered as security for the remainder, and immured in the Mahratta camp. Holkar then visited the Rana. Lawa and Radnor were attacked, taken, and restored on large payments. Deogarh alone was mulcted four and a half lakhs. Having devastated Mewar during eight months, Holkar [458] marched to Hindustan, 1 Ajit Singh accompanying him as the Rana's representative ; while Bala Ram Seth was left to levy the balance of the forty lakhs. Holkar had reached Shahpura when Sindhia entered Mewar, and their camps formed a junction to allow the leaders to organize their mutual plans of hostility to the British Government. These chieftains, in their efforts to cope with the British power, had been completely humiliated, and their resources broken. But Rajasthan was made to pay the penalty of British success, which riveted her chains, and it would be but honest, now we have the power, to diminish that penalty.
Sindhia and Holkar in Mewar
The rainy season of a.d. 1805 found Sindhia and Holkar encamped in the plains of Badnor, desirous, but afraid, to seek revenge in the renewal of war. De prived of all power in Hindustan, and of the choicest territory north and south of the Nerbudda, with numerous discontented armies now let loose on these devoted countries, their passions inflamed by defeat, and blind to every sentiment of humanity, they had no alternative to pacify the soldiery and replenish their own ruined resources but indiscriminate pillage. It would require a pen powerful as the pencil of Salvator Rosa to paint the horrors which filled up the succeeding ten years, to which the author was an eye-witness, destined to follow in the train of rapine, and to view in the traces of Mahratta camps 2 the desola
1 At this juncture an officer of Holkar's, Harnatli Chela, on passing through Bansain, had some camels carried off by the Bhils of the Satola estate. Harnath summoned Gulab Singh Chondawat, who came with eight of his relatives, when he was told he should be detained till the cattle were restored ; and in the morning, as the Mahratta momted his elephant, he commanded the Raghaut chieftain to be seized. Gulab drew his sword and made at Harnath, but his sword broke in the howda, when he plunged his dagger into the elephant ; but at length he and all his relations, who nobly pUed their swords on the Mahrattas, were cut to pieces. 2 [For a graphic account of these camps see T. D. Broughton, Letters written in a Mahratta Camp during the year 1809, ed. 1892.] tion and political annihilation of all the central States of India,1 several of which aided the British in their early struggle for dominion, but were now allowed to fall without a helping hand, the scapegoats of our successes. Peace between the Mahrattas and British was, however, doubtful, as Sindhia made the restora tion of the rich provinces of Gohad and Gwalior a sine qua non : and unhappily for their legitimate ruler, who [459] had been inducted into the seat of his forefathers, a Governor- General (Lord Cornwallis) of ancient renown, but in the decline of life, with views totally unsuited to the times, abandoned our allies, and renounced all for peace, sending an ambassador "2 to Sindhia to reunite the bonds of ' perpetual friendship.'
Holkar saves Mewar from Sindhia
The Mahratta leaders were anxious, if the war should be renewed, to shelter their families and valuables in the strongholds of Mewar, and their respective camps became the rendezvous of the rival factions. Sardar Singh, the organ of the Chondawats, represented the Rana at Sindhia's court, at the head of whose councils Ambaji had just been placed.3 His rancour to the Rana was implacable, from the support given in self-defence to his political antagonist, Lakwa, and he agitated the partition of Mewar amongst the great Mahratta leaders. But whilst his baneful influence was pre paring this result, the credit of Sangram Saktawat with Holkar counteracted it. It would be unfair and ungallant not to record that a fair suitor, the Baiza Bai,4 Sindhia's wife, powerfully
1 The Rana of Gohad and GwaUor, the Khichi chiefs of Raghugarh and Bahadurgarh, and the Nawab of Bhopal, made common cause with us in Warren Hastings' time. The first throe possess not a shadow of independ ence ; the last fortunately formed a Unk in our own pohcy, and Lord Hastings, in 1818, repaid with liberal interest the services rendered to the government of Warren Hastings in 1782. It was in his power, with equal facility, to have rescued all the other States, and to have claimed the same measure of gratitude which Bhopal is proud to avow. But there was a fatahty in the desire to maintain terms with Sindhia, whose treachery to our power was overlooked. 2 The author, then a subaltern, was attached to the suite of the ambas sador, Mr. Graeme Mercer. He left the subsidiary force at Gwalior in December 1805, and the embassy reached Sindhia's court in the spring of 1800, then encamped amidst the ruins of Mewar. 3 The ministers of Sindhia Avere Ambaji, Bapu Chitnavis, Madhuba Huzuria, ancfAnaji Bhaskar. 4 [Baiza Bai, widow of Daulat Rao Sindhia, who died in 1827, was an contributed to the Rana's preservation on this occasion. This lady, the daughter of the notorious Sarji Rao, had unboxuided power over Sindhia. Her sympathies were awakened on behalf of the supreme head of the Rajput nation, of which blood she had to boast, though she was now connected with the Mahrattas. Even the hostile clans stifled their animosities on this occasion, and Sardar Singh Chondawat left Sindhia's camp to join his rival Sangram with Holkar, and aided by the upright Kishandas Pancholi, united in their remonstrances, asking Holkar if he had given his consent to sell Mewar to Ambaji. Touched by the picture of the Rana's and their country's distresses, Holkar swore it should not be ; advised unity amongst themselves, and caused the representatives of the rival clans ' to eat opiiun together.' Nor did he stop here, but with the envoys repaired to Sindhia's tents, descanted on the Rana's high descent, ' the master of their master's master,' 1 urging that it did not become them to over whelm him, and that they should even renounce the mortgaged lands which their fathers had too long unjustly held, himself setting the example by the restitution of [460] Nimbahera. To strengthen his argument, he expatiated with Sindhia on the policy of conciliating the Rana, whose strongholds might be available in the event of a renewal of hostilities with the British. Sindhia appeared a convert to his views, and retained the envoys in his camp. The Mahratta camps were twenty miles apart, and incessant torrents of rain had for some days prevented all intercourse. In this interim, Holkar received intelligence that Bhairon Bakhsh, as envoy from the Rana, was in Lord Lake's camp negotiating for the aid of British troops, then at Touk, to drive the Mahrattas from Mewar. The incensed Holkar sent for the Rana's ambassadors, and assailed them with a torrent of reproach ; accusing them of treachery, he threw the newspaper containing the information at Kishandas, asking if that were the way in which the Mewaris kept faith with him ? "I cared not to break with Sindhia in support of your master, and while combating the Farangis (Franks), when all the Hindus should be unscrupulous, designing woman, whose intrigues at Gwalior forced her to take refuge in British territory. She returned after an interval and lived at Gwalior until her death in 1862 {IGI, xii. 424).]
1 That is, chief of the race from which issued the Satara sovereigns, whose minister, the Peshwa, accounted Sindhia and Holkar his feudatories. as brothers, your sovereign the Rana, who boasts of not acknow ledging the supremacy of Delhi, is the first to enter into arms with them. Was it for this I prevented Ambaji being fastened on you ? " Kishandas here interrupted and attempted to pacify him, when Alikar Tantia, Holkar's minister, stopped hina short, observing to his prince, " You see the faith of these Ran gras ; 1 they would disimite you and Smdhia, and ruin both. Shake them off : be reconciled to Sindhia, dismiss Sarji Rao, and let Ambaji be Subahdar of Mewar, or I will leave you and take Sindhia into Malwa." The other councillors, with the exception of Bhao Bhaskar, seconded this advice : Sarji Rao was dismissed ; and Holkar proceeded northward, where he was encoiuitered and pursued to the Panjab by the British under the intrepid and enterprising Lake, who dictated terms to the Mahratta at the altars of Alexander.2
Holkar protects Mewar Interests
Holkar had the generosity to stipulate, before his departure from Mewar, for the security of the Rana and his country, telling Sindhia he should hold him personally amenable to him if Ambaji were permitted to violate his guarantee. But in his misfortunes this threat was disregarded, and a contribution of sixteen lakhs was levied immediately on Mewar ; Sadasheo Rao, with Baptiste's ' brigade, was detached from the camp in June 1806, for the double purpose of levying it, and driving from [461] Udaipur a detachment of the Jaipur prince's troops, bringing proposals and preliminary presents for this prince's marriage with the Rana's daughter. It would be imagined that the miseries of Rana Bhim were not susceptible of aggravation, and that fortune had done her worst to humble him ; but his
1 Rangra is an epithet appKed to the Rajputs, implying turbulent, from rana, ' strife.' [Rangar is the title of a body of turbulent, predatory Muham madans, who claim Rajput descent, occupying parts of the E. Panjab and W. districts of the Ganges-Jumna Duab. The derivation suggested is very doubtful (Crooke, Tribes and Castes, N.W.P. and Oudh, v. 227 £f.).] 2 [In October 1805 (Grant Duff 601).] 3 [Jean Baptiste de la Fontaine Filoze (1775-1840) assisted in the cam paign against Thomas in 1801. In the war with the English, part of his brigade under Dupont was defeated at Assaye. He was afterwards ill treated by Sindhia, but was reinstated. Some of his descendants are still in Sindhia's service (Compton, European Military Adveriturers, 352 ff. ; Sleeman, Rambles, 115, note). He is frequently mentioned in Broughton, Letters written in a Mahratta Camp.] pride as a sovereign and his feelings as a parent were destined to be yet more deeply wounded. The Jaipur cortege had encamped near the capital, to the number of three thousand men, while the Rana's acknowledgments of acceptance were dispatched, and had reached Shahpura. But Raja Man of Marwar also advanced pretensions, founded on the princess having been actually be trothed to his predecessor ; and urging that the throne of Marwar, and not the individual occupant, was the object, he vowed resentment and opposition if his claims were disregarded. These were suggested, it is said, by his nobles to cloak their own views ; and promoted by the Chondawats (then ift favour with the Rana), whose organ, Ajit, was bribed to further them, contrary to the decided wishes of their prince.
Krislma Kimwari (the Virgin Krisluia) was the name of the lovely object, the rivalry for whose hand assembled under the banners of her suitors (Jagat Singh of Jaipur and Raja Man of Marwar), not only their native chivalry, but all the predatory powers of India ; and who, like Helen of old, involved in destruc tion her own and the rival houses. Sindhia having been denied a pecuniary demand by Jaipur, not only opposed the nuptials, but aided the claims of Raja Man, by demanding of the Rana the dismissal of the Jaipur embassy : which being refused, he ad vanced his brigades and batteries, and after a fruitless resistance, in which the Jaipur troops joined, forced the pass, threw a corps of eight thousand men into the valley, and following in person, encamped within cannon-range of the city. The Rana had now no alternative but to dismiss the nuptial cortege, and agree to whatever was demanded. Sindhia remained a month in the valley, during which an interview took place between him and the Rana at the shrine of Eklinga [462].1
1 To increase his importance, Sindhia invited the British envoy and suite to be present on the occasion, when the princely demeanour of the Rana and his sons was advantageously contrasted with that of the Mahratta and his suite. It was in this visit that the regal abode of this ancient race, its isles and palaces, acted with irresistible force on the cupidity of this scion of the plough, who aspired to, yet dared not seat himself in, ' the halls of the Caesars.' It was even surmised that his hostihty to Jaipur was not so much from the refused war-contribution, as from a mortifying negative to an audacious desire to obtain the hand of this princess himself. The impres sion made on the author upon this occasion by the miseries and noble appear ance of ' this descendant of a hundred kings,' was never allowed to weaken.
Battle of Parbatsar. Defeat of the Marwar Forces
The heralds of Hymen bemg thus rudely repulsed and its symbols intercepted, the Jaipur prince prepared to avenge his insulted pride and disappointed hopes, and accordingly arrayed a force such as had " not assembled since the empire was in its glory. Raja Man eagerly took up the gauntlet of his rival, and headed ' the swords of Maru.' But dissension prevailed in Marwar, where rival claimants for the throne had divided the loyalty of the clans, introducing there also the influence of the Mahrattas. Raja Man, who had acquired the sceptre by party aid; was obliged to maintain himself by it, and to pursue the demoralizing policy of the period by ranging his vassals against each other. These nuptials gave the malcontents an opportunity to display their long-curbed resentments, and following the example of Mewar, they set up a pretender, whose interests were eagerly espoused, and whose standard was erected in the array of Jaipur ; the prince at the head of 120,000 men advancing against his rival, who with less than half the number met him at Parbatsar, on their mutual frontier. The action was short, for while a heavy cannonade opened on either side, the majority of the Marwar nobles went over to the pretender. Raja Man turned his poniard against himself : but some chiefs yet faithful to him wrested the weapon from his hand, and conveyed him from the field. He was pursued to his capital, which was invested, besieged, and gallantly defended during six months. The town was at length taken and plundered, but the castle of Jodha ' laughed a siege to scorn ' ; in time with the aid of finesse, the mighty host of Jaipur, which had consumed the forage of these arid plains for twenty miles around, began to crumble away ; intrigue spread through every rank, and the siege ended in pusillanimity and flight.
The Xerxes of Rajwara, the effeminate Kachhwaha, alarmed at length for his personal safety, sent on the spoUs of but kindled an enthusiastic desire for the restoration of his fallen condition, which stimulated his perseverance to obtain that knowledge by which alone he might be enabled to benefit him. Then a young Sub., his hopes of success were more sanguiiae than wise ; but he trusted to the rapid march of events, and the discordant elements by which he was surrounded, to elfect the but after and he had the gratification of being instrumental in snatching the family from destruction, aiad subse quently of raising the country to comparative prosperity. Parbatsar and Jodhpur to his capital ; but the brave nobles of Marwar, drawing the line between loyalty and patriotism, and determined that no trophy of Rathor degradation should be conveyed by the Kachhwahas from Marwar, attacked the cortege and redeemed the symbols of their disgrace. The colossal array of the invader was soon dismeinbered, and the ' lion of the world ' (Jagat Singh), humbled and crestfallen [463], skulked from the desert retreat of his rival, indebted to a partisan corps for safety and convoy to his capital, around whose walls the wretched remnants of this ill-starred confederacy long lagged in expectation of their pay, while the bones of their horses and the ashes of their riders whitened the plain, and rendered it a Golgotha.1
Nawab Amir Khan
By the aid of one of the most notorious villains India ever produced, the Nawab Amir Khan, 2 the pre tender's party was treacherously annihilated. This man with his brigade of artUlery and horse was amongst the most efficient of the foes of Raja Man ; but the auri sacra fames not only made him desert the side on which he came for that of the Raja, but for a specific sum offer to rid him of the pretender and all his associates. Like Judas, he kissed whom he betrayed, took service with the pretender, and at the shrine of a saint of his own faith exchanged turbans with their leaders ; and while the too credulous Rajput chieftains celebrated this acquisition to their party in the very sanctuary of hospitality, crowned by the dance and the song, the tents were cut down, and the victims thus enveloped, slaughtered in the midst of festivity by showers of grape.
Thus finished the under-plot ; but another and more noble victim was demanded before discomfited ambition could repose, or the curtain drop on this eventful drama. Neither party 1 I witnessed the commencement and the end of this drama, and have conversed with actors in all the intermediate scenes. In June 1806 the passes of Udaipur were forced ; and in January 1808, when I passed through Jaipur in a solitary ramble, the fragments of this contest were scattered over its sandy plabas. 2 [Amir Khan, ally of the Pindaris and ancestor of the present Nawabs of Tonk. A treaty between him and the British was signed on December 19, 1817, by which his State was recognized. He died in 1834. See his Life by Basawan Lai, translated by Thoby Prinsep ; Malcolm, Memoirs of Central India, 2nd ed. ii. 325 ff.J would relinquish his claim to the fair object of the war ; and the torch of discord could be extinguished only in her blood. To the same ferocious Khan is attributed the tmhallowed suggestion, as well as its compulsory execution. The scene was now changed from the desert castle of Jodha to the smiling valley of Udaipur, soon to be filled with funereal lamentation.
The Tragedy of Krishna Kunwari
Krishna Kimwari Bai, the ' Virgin Princess Krishna,' was in her sixteenth year : her mother was of the Chawara race, the ancient kings of Anhilwara. Sprung froin the noblest blood of Hind, she added beauty of face and person to an engaging demeanour, and was justly proclaimed the ' flower of Rajasthan.' When the Roman father pierced the bosom of the dishonoured Virginia, appeased virtue applauded the deed. When Iphigenia was led to the sacrificial altar, the salvation of her coimtry yielded a noble consolation. The votive victim of Jephthah's success had [464] the triumph of a father's fame to sustain her resignation, and in the meeloiess of her sufferings we have the best parallel to the sacrifice of the lovely Krislma : though years have passed since the barbarous inunola tion, it is never related but with a faltering tongue and moistened eyes, ' albeit imused to the melting mood.'
The rapacious and bloodthirsty Pathan, covered with infamy, repaired to Udaipur, where he was joined by the phant and subtle Ajit. Meek in his demeanour, unostentatious in his habits ; religion, which he followed with the zeal of an ascetic, if it did not serve as a cloak, was at least no hindrance to an immeasurable ambition, in the attamment of which he woilld have sacrificed all but himself. When the Pathan revealed his design, that either the princess should wed Raja Man, or by her death seal the peace of Rajwara, whatever arguments were used to point the alternative, the Rana was made to see no choice between consigning his beloved child to the Rathor prince, or witnessing the effects of a m.ore extended dishonour from the vengeance of the Pathan, and the storm of his palace by his licentious adherents— the fiat passed that Krishna Kunwari should die.
But the deed was left for women to accomplish the hand of man refused it. The Rawala 1 of an Eastern prince is a world within itself ; it is the labyrinth containing the strings that move 1 Harem. the puppets which alarm mankind. Here intrigue sits entlironed, and hence its influence radiates to the world, always at a loss to trace effects to their causes. Maharaja Daulat Singh,"1 descended four generations ago from one common ancestor with the Rana, was first sounded ' to save the honour of Udaipur ' ; but, horror-struck, he exclaimed, " Accursed the tongue that com mands it ! Dust on my allegiance, if thus to be preserved ! " The Maharaja Jawandas, a natural brother, was then called upon ; the dire necessity was explained, and it was urged that no common hand could be armed for the purpose. He accepted the poniard, but when in youthful loveliness Krislina appeared before him, the dagger fell from his hand, and he returned more wretched than the victim. The fatal purpose thus revealed, the shrieks of the frantic inother reverberated through the palace, as she implored mercy, or execrated the murderers of her child, who alone was resigned to her fate. But death was arrested, not averted [465]. To use the phrase of the narrator, " she was and prepared by female hands ! As the messenger presented it in the name of her father, she bowed and drank it, sending up a prayer for his life and prosperity. The raving mother poured imprecations on his head, while the lovely victim, who shed not a tear, thus endeavoured to console her : " Why afllict yourself, my mother, at this shortening of the sorrows of life ? I fear not to die ! Am I not your daughter ? Wliy should I fear death ? We are marked out for sacrifice 2 from our birth ; we scarcely enter the world but to be sent out again ; let me thank my father that I have lived so long ! " 3 Thus she conversed till the nauseating a plain honest man. 2 Alluding to the custom of infanticide here, very rare ; indeed, almost unknown. 3 With my mind engrossed with the scenes in which I had passed the better part of my life, I went two months after my return from Rajputana, in 1823, to York Cathedral, to attend the memorable festival of that year. The sublime recitations of Handel in ' Jephtha's Vow,' the sonorous woe of Sapio's ' Deeper and deeper still,' powei-fully recalled the sad exit of the Rajputni ; and the representation shortly after of Racine's tragedy of ' Iphigcnie,' with Talma as Achille, Duchesnois as Clytemnestre, and a very interesting personation of the victim daughter of Agamemnon, again served to waken the remembrance of this sacrifice. The following passage, embodying not only the sentiments, but couched in the precise language in proving that human draught refused to assimilate with her blood. Again the bitter potion was prepared. She drained it off, and again it was re jected ; but, as if to try the extreme of human fortitude, a third was administered ; and, for the third time, Nature refused to aid the horrid purpose. It seemed as if the fabled charm, which guarded the life of the founder of her race,1 was inherited by the Virgin Krishna. But the blood-hounds, the Pathan and Ajit, were impatient till their victim was at rest ; and cruelty, as if gathering strength from defeat, made another and a fatal attempt. A powerful opiate was presented the kusumbha draught. 2 She received it with a smile, wished the scene over, and drank it. The desires [466] of barbarity were accomplished. ' She slept ! ' 3 a sleep from which she never awoke.
The wretched mother did not long survive her child ; nature was exhausted in the ravings of despair ; she refused food ; and her remains in a few days followed those of her daughter to the funeral pyre. Even the ferocious Ivlian, when the instrument of his infamy, Ajit, reported the issue, received him with contempt, and spurned him from his presence, tauntingly asking " if this were the boasted Rajput valour ? " But the wily traitor had to encounter lan guage far more bitter from his political adversary, whom he detested. Sangram Saktawat reached the capital only four days after Ae catastrophe— a man in every respect the reverse of Ajit ; audaciously brave, he neither feared the frown of his
1 Bappa Rawal. 2 The kusumbha draught is made of flowers and herbs of a cooling quality ; into this an opiate was introduced. 3 The simxjle but powerful expression of the narrator. sovereign nor the sword of his enemy. Without introduction he rushed into the presence, where he found seated the traitor Ajit. " Oh dastard ! who hast thrown dust on the Sesodia race, whose blood which has flowed in purity through a hundred ages has now been defiled ! this sin will check its course for ever ; a blot so foul in our annals that no Sesodia 1 will ever again hold up his head ! A sin to which no punishment were equal. But the end of our race is approaching ! The line of Bappa Rawal is at an end ! Heaven has ordained this, a signal of our destruction." The Rana hid his face with his hands, when turning to Ajit, he exclaimed, " Thou stain on the Sesodia race, thou impure of Rajput blood, dust be on thy head as thou hast covered us all with shame. May you die childless, and your name die with you ! 2 Why this indecent haste ? Had the Pathan stormed the city ? Had he attempted to violate the sanctity of the Rawala ? And though he had, could you not die as Rajputs, like your ancestors ? Was it thus they gained a name ? Was it thus our race became renowned __thus they opposed the might of kings ? Have you forgotten the Sakhas of Chitor ? But not Rajputs ? Had the honour of your females been endangered, had you sacrificed them all and rushed sword in hand on the enemy, your name would have lived, and the Almighty would have secured the seed of Bappa Rawal. But to owe preservation [467] to this unhallowed deed ! Tou did not even await the threatened danger. Fear seems to have deprived you of every faculty, or you might have spared the blood of Sriji, 3 and if you did not scorn to owe your safety to deception, might have substituted some less noble victim ! But the end of our race approaches 1 "
Fate of the Murderers
The traitor to manhood, his sovereign, and lunuanity, durst not reply. The brave Sangram is now dead, but the prophetic anathema has been fulfilled. Of ninety-five children, sons and daughters, but one son (the brother of Krishna) 4 is left to the Rana ; and though his two remaining daughters have been recently married to the princes of Jaisalmer and Bikaner, the Salic law, which is in full force in these States, 1 The tribe of the Rana. 2 That is, without adoption even to perpetuate it. 3 A respectful epithet to the prince __sire. 4 By the same mother. precludes all honour through female descent. His hopes rest solely on the prince, Javana Singh 1 and though in the flower of yoxith and health, the marriage bed (albeit boasting no less than four yoimg princesses) has been blessed with no progeny.2
The elder brother of Javana 3 died two years ago. Had he lived he would have been Amra the Third. With regard to A jit, the curse has been fully accomplished. Scarcely a month after, his wife and two sons were numbered with the dead ; and the hoary traitor has since been wandering from shrine to shrine, performing penance and alms in expiation of his sins, yet unable to fling from him ambition ; and with his beads in one hand, Rama ! Rama ! ever on his tongue, and subdued passion in his looks, his heart is deceitful as ever. Enough of him : let us exclaim with Sangram, " Dust on his head," 4 which all the waters of the Ganges could not purify from the blood of the virgin Krishna, but rather would tlic multitudinous sea incarnadine [468].
Amir Khan rewarded by the British
His coadjutor. Amir Khan, is now linked by treaties " in amity and unity of interests " 1 He was nearly carried off by that awful scourge, the cholera, and, singular to remark, was the first person attacked at Udaipur. I remained by his bedside during the progress of this terrible visitation, and never shall I forget his grateful exclamation of surprise, when after a salutary sleep he opened his eyes to health. Shirji Mehta, his chief adviser and manager of his estates, merry as ever, though the heir of Mewar was given over, was was dead and his ashes blanching on the sands of the streandet of Ar within twelve hours ! Jovial and good-humoured as he was, " we could have better spared a better man." He was an adept in intrigue ; of Ambaji's school ; and till death shall ex tinguish the whole of this, and better morals are born, the country will but slowly improve. [Maharana Jawan Singh (1828-38) succeeded on the death of his father, Bhim Singh, on March 31, 1828. He gave himself up to de bauchery, and died without issue on August 30, 1838, being succeeded by his adopted son, Sardar Singh.] 2 Since this work has gone to press, the author has been rejoiced to find that an heir has been born from the last marriage by a princess of Riwa of the Baghela tribe. 3 See genealogical descendants of Rana Jagat Singh. Appendix, No. VIII. 4 This was written at Udaipur in 1820. This old intriguer then attempted to renew the past, as the organ of the Chondawats, but his scheme ended in exile to the sacred city of Benares ; and there he may now be seen with his rosary on the consecrated ghat of the Ganges. with the sovereigns of India ; and though he has carried mourning into every house of Rajasthan, yet charity might hope forgiveness would be extended to him, could he cleanse himself from this ' throwing this pearl away, richer than all his tribe ! ' His career of rapine has terminated with the caresses of the blind goddess, and placed him on a pinnacle to which his sword would never have traced the path. Enjoying the most distinguished post amongst the foreign chieftians of Holkar's State, having the regulars and park under his control, with large estates for their support, he added the epithet of traitor to his other titles, when the British Government, adopting the leading maxim of Asiatic policy, divide et inipera, guaranteed to him the sovereignty of these districts on his abandoning the Mahrattas, disbanding his legions, and surrendering the park. But though he personally fulfilled not, nor could fulfil, one single stipulation, this man, whose services were not worth the pay of a single sepoy__who fled from his camp 1 unattended, and sought personal claimed and obtained the full price of our pledge, the sovereignty of about one-third of his master's dominions ; and the districts of Sironj , Tonk, Rampura, and Nimbahera, form the domain of the Nawab Amir Khan, etc., etc., etc. ! ! This was in the fitful fever of success, when our arms were everywhere triumphant. But were the viceroy of Hind to summon the forty tributaries 2 now covered by the aegis of British protection to a meeting, the murderer of Krishna would still occupy a place (though low) in this illustrious divan. Let us hope that his character being known, he would feel himself ill at ease ; and let us dismiss him likewise in the words of Sangram, " Dust on his head ! "
The mind sickens at the contemplation of these unvarying scenes of atrocity ; but this unhappy State had yet to pass through two more lustres of aggravated sufferings (to which the author of these annals was an eye-witness) before their [469] termination, upon the alliance of Mewar with Britain. From the 1 Brigadier-General Alexander Knox had the honour of dissolving these bands in the only way worthy of us. He marched his troops to take their guns and disperse their legions ; and, when in order of battle, the gallant General taking out his watch, gave them half an hour to reflect, their com mander Jamshid, second only in villainy to his master, deeming ' dis cretion the better part of valour,' surrendered. 2 There are full this number of princes holding under the British. period of the forcing of the passes, the dismissal of the Jaipur embassy by Sindhia, and the murder of Krishna Kunwari, the embassy of Britain was in the train of the Mahratta leader, a when the hand was stretched out for succour in vain, and the British flag waved in the centre of desolation, unable to afford protection. But this day of humiliation is past, thanks to the predatory hordes who goaded us on to their des truction ; although the work was incomplete, a nucleus being imprudently left in Sindhia for the scattered particles again to form.
Ruin of Mewar by the Marathas
In the spring of 1806, when the embassy entered the once-fertile Mewar, from whose native wealth the monuments the pencil will portray were erected, deserted towns, roofless houses, and uncultured plains. Wlierever the Mahratta encamped, annihilation was ensured ; it was a habit ; and twenty-four hours sufficed to give to the most flourishing spot the aspect of a desert. The march of destruction was always to be traced for days after wards by burning villages and destroyed cultivation. Some satisfaction may result from the fact, that there was scarcely an actor in these unhallowed scenes whose end was not fitted to his career. Ambaji was compelled to disgorge the spoils of Mewar, and his personal sufferings made some atonement for the ills he had inflicted upon her. This satrap, who had almost established his independence in the fortress and territory of Gwalior, suffered every indignity from Sindhia, whose authority he had almost thrown off. He was confined in a mean tent, manacled, suffered the torture of small lighted torches applied to his fingers, and even attempted suicide to avoid the surrender of his riches ; but the instrument (an English penknife) was inefficient : the surgeon to the British embassy sewed up the wounds, and his coffers were eased of fifty-five lakhs of rupees ! Mewar was, however, once more delivered over to him ; he died shortly after. If report be correct, the residue of his treasures was possessed by his ancient ally, Zalim Smgh. In this case, the old politician derived the chief advantage of the intrigues of S. 1848, without the crimes attendant on the acquisition.
Sindhia's father-in-law, when expelled that chief's camp, according to the treaty, enjoyed the ephemeral dignity of minister to the Rana, when he abstracted the most vahiable records, especially those of the revenue [470]. Kumbhalmer was obtained by the minister Satidas from Jaswant Rao Bhao for seventy thousand rupees, for which assignments were given on this district, of which he retained possession. Amir Khan in a.d. 1809 led his myrmidons to the capital, threatening the demolition of the temple of Eklinga if refused a contribution of eleven lakhs of rupees. Nine were agreed to, but which by no effort could be raised, upon which the R ana's envoys were treated with indignity, and Kishandas 1 wounded. The passes were forced. Amir Khan entering by Debari, and his coadjutor and son-in-law, the notorious Jamshid, by the Chirwa, which made but a feeble resistance. The ruffian Pathans were billeted on the city, subjecting the Rana to personal humiliation, and Jamshid 2 left with his licentious Rohillas in the capital. The traces of their barbarity are to be seen in its ruins. No woman could safely venture abroad, and a decent garment or turban was sufficient to attract their cupidity.
Bapu Sindhia Siibahdar of Mewar
In S. 1867 (a.d. 1811) Bapu Sindhia arrived with the title of Subahdar, and encamped in the valley, and from this to 1814 these vampires, representing Sindhia and Amir Khan, possessed themselves of the entire fiscal domain, with many of the fiefs, occasionally disputing for the spoils ; to prevent which they came to a conference at the Dhaula Magra (the white hill), attended by a deputation 3 from the Rana, when the line of demarcation was drawn between the spoilers. A schedule was formed of the towns and villages yet inhabited, the amount to be levied from each specified, and three and a half lakhs adjudged to Jamshid, with the same sum to Sindhia ; but this treaty was not better kept than the former ones. Mewar was rapidly approaching dissolution, and every
1 This veteran attended me during all these troubles, as the medium of communication with the Rana. Though leagued with the Chondawats, he was a loyal subject and good servant. I saw him expire, and was of opinion, as well as the doctor who accompanied me, that his death was caused by poison. The general burst of sorrow from hundreds collected around his house, when the event was announced, is the best encomium on his public character. 2 This monstrous villain (for he was a Goliath) died soon after Mewar was rescued, from a cancer in his back. 3 Satidas, Kishandas, and Rup Ram. sign of civilization fast disappearing ; fields laid waste, cities in ruins, inhabitants exiled, chieftains demoralized, the prince and his family destitute of common comforts. Yet had Sindhia the audacity to demand compensation for the loss of his tribute stipulated to Bapu Sindhia [471],1 who rendered Mewar a desert, carrying her chiefs, her merchants, her farmers, into captivity and fetters in the dungeons of Ajmer, where many died for want of ransom, and others languished till the treaty with the British, in A.D. 1817, set them free.
