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This page is an extract from <br/>
ANNALS AND ANTIQUITIES <br/>
OF <br/>
'''RAJASTHAN '''<br/>

OR THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN <br/>
RAJPUT STATES OF INDIA <br/>

By <br/>
LIEUT.-COL. JAMES TOD <br/>
Late Political Agent to the Western Rajput States <br/>

Edited with an Introduction and Notes by <br/>
WILLIAM CROOKE, CIE. <br/>
Hon. D.Sc. Oxon., B.A., F.R.A.l. <br/>
Late of the Indian Civil Service <br/>

In Three Volumes <br/>
VOL. IV: ANNALS OF MEWAR<br/>
[The Annals were completed in 1829]<br/>

HUMPHREY MILFORD <br/>
Oxford University Press <br/>
London Edinburgh Glasgow New York <br/>
Toronto Melbourne Bombay <br/>
1920 [The edition scanned] <br/>
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Note: This article is likely to contain several spelling mistakes that occurred during scanning. If these errors are reported as messages to the Facebook page, [http://www.facebook.com/Indpaedia Indpaedia.com] your help will be gratefully acknowledged.

=Mewar 08: Historical facts furnished by the bard Chand=
==Samar Singh, Samarsi==
Although the whole of this chain of ancestry, from Kanaksen 
in the second, Vijaya the founder of Valabhi in the fourth, to 
Samarsi in the thirteenth century, cannot be discriminated with 
perfect accuracy, we may affirm, to borrow a metaphor, that " the 
two extremities of it are riveted in truth " : and some links have 
at intervals been recognized as equally valid. We will now 
extend the chain to the nineteenth century. 

==The Tuars of Delhi==
Samarsi was 
born in S. 1206.1  Though the domestic annals are not silent on 
his acts, we shall recur chiefly to the bard of Delhi - for his char
2 [For the error in his date see p. 281 above.] 
" The work of Chand is a universal history of the period in which he 
wrote. In the sixty-nine books, comprising one hundred thousand stanzas, 
relating to the exploits of Prithiraj, every noble family of Rajasthan will 
find some record of their ancestors. It is accordingly treasured amongst 
the archives of each race having any pretensions to the name of Rajput. 
acter and actions, and the history of the period. Before we pro
ceed, however, a sketch of the pohtical condition of Hindustan 
during the last of the Tuar sovereigns of Delhi, derived from this 
authority and in the bard's own words, may not be unacceptable. 
" In Patan is Bhola Bhim the Chalukya, of iron frame.1 On the 
mountain Abu, Jeth Pramara, in battle immovable as the star 
of the north. In Mewar is Samar Singh, who takes tribute from 
the mighty, a wave of iron in the path of Delhi's foe. In the 
midst of all, strong in his own strength, Mandor's prince, the 
arrogant Nahar Rao, the might of Maru, fearing none. In Delhi 
the chief of all [255] Ananga, at whose summons attended the 
princes of Mandor, Nagor, Sind, Jalwat,2  and others on its confines, 
Peshawar, Lahore, Kangra, and its mountain chiefs, with Kasi,3  
Prayag,4  and Garh Deogir. The lords of Simar  5 were in constant 
danger of his power." The Bhatti, since their expulsion from 
Zabulistan, had successively occupied as capitals, Salivahanapur 
in the Panjab, Tanot, Derawar, which last they founded, and the 
ancient Lodorwa, which they conquered in the desert ; and at the 
period in question were constructing their present residence, 
Jaisalmer. In this nook they had been fighting for centuries 

From this he can trace his martial forefathers who ' drank of the wave of 
battle ' in the passes of Kirman when the ' cloud of war rolled from Himachal 
to the plains of Hindustan. The wars of Prithiraj, his alliances, his 
numerous and powerful tributaries, their abodes and pedigrees, make the 
works of Chand invaluable as historic and geographical memoranda, besides 
being treasures in mythology, manners, and the annals of the mind. To 
read this poet well is a sure road to honour, and my own Guru was allowed, 
even by the professional bards, to excel therein. As he read I rapidly 
translated about thirty thousand stanzas. Familiar with the dialects in 
which it is written, I have fancied that I seized occasionally the poet's 
spirit ; but it were presumption to suppose that I embodied all his brilliancy, 
or fully comprehended the depth of his allusions. But I knew for whom 
he wrote. The most familiar of his images and sentiments I heard daily 
from the mouths of those around me, the descendants of the men whoso 
deeds he rehearses. I was enabled thus to seize his meaning, where one 
more skilled in poetic lore might have failed, and to make my prosaic version 
of some value. [For Chand Bardai see Grierson, Modern Literary History 
of Hiildustan, 3 f.] 

1  [Bhima II., Chaulukya, known as Bhola, 'the simpleton,' a.d. 1179
1242.] 
2  Unknown, unless the country on the ' waters ' {jal) of Sind. 
3  Benares.           4 Allahabad. 
5  The cold regions {ai, ' cold '). 
with the heutenants of the Cahph at Aror, occasionally redeeming 
their ancient possessions as far as the city of the Tak on the Indus. 
Their situation gave them little political interest in the affairs of 
Hindustan until the period of Prithiraj, one of whose principal 
leaders, Achales, was the brother of the Bhatti prince. Anangpal, 
from this description, was justly entitled to be termed the para
mount sovereign of Hindustan ; but he was the last of a dynasty 
of nineteen princes, who had occupied Delhi nearly four hvmdred 
years, from the time of the founder Bilan Deo, who, according to 
a manuscript in th.e author's possession, was only an opulent 
Thakur when he assumed the ensigns of royalty in the then 
deserted Indraprastha, taking the name of Anangpal,^ ever after 
titular in the family. The Cliaulians of Ajmer owed at least 
homage to Delhi at this time, although Bisaldeo had rendered it 
almost nominal ; and to Someswar, the fourth in descent, Anang
pal was indebted for the preservation of this supremacy against 
the attempts of Kanauj, for which service he obtained the Tuar's 
daughter in marriage, the issue of which was Prithiraj, who when 
only eight yeai's of age was proclaimed successor to the Delhi 
throne. 

==Prithiraj==
Jaichand of Kanauj and Prithiraj bore the same 
relative situation to Anangpal ; Bijaipal, the father of the former, 
as well as Someswar, having had a daughter of the Tuar to wife. 
This originated the rivalry between the Chauhans and Rathors 
which ended in the destruction of both. When Prithiraj mounted 
the throne of Delhi, Jaichand not only refused to acknowledge 
his supremacy, but set forth his own claims to this distinction. 
In these he was supported by the prince of Patau [256] Aiihil
wara (the eternal foe of the Chauhans), and likewise by the Pari
hars of ISIandor. But the affront given by the latter, in refusing 
to fulfil the contract of bestowing his daughter on the young 
Chauhan, brought on a warfare, in which this first essay was but 
the presage of his future fame. Kanauj and Patan had recourse 
to the dangerous expedient of entertaining bands of Tatars, 
through whom the sovereign of Ghazni was enabled to take 
advantage of their internal broils. 

1 Ananga is a poetical epithet of the Hindu Cupid, literally ' incorporeal ' ; 
but, according to good authority, apphcable to the founder of the desolate 
abode, palna being ' to support,' and anga, with the primitive an, ' without 
body.' 
Samarsi, prince of Chitor, had married the sister of Prithiraj, 
and their personal characters, as well as this tie, bound them to 
each other throughout all these commotions, until the last fatal 
battle on the Ghaggar. From these feuds Hindustan never was 
free. But unrelenting enmity was not a part of their character : 
having displayed the valour of the tribe, the bard or Nestor of 
the day would step in, and a marriage would conciliate and main
tain in friendship such foes for two generations. From time 
immemorial such has been the political state of India, as repre
sented by their own epics, or in Arabian or Persian histories : 
thus always the prey of foreigners, and destined to remain so. 
Samarsi had to contend both with the princes of Patau and 
Kanauj ; and although the bard says " he washed his blade in 
the Jumna," the domestic annals slur over the circumstance of 
Siddharaja-Jayasingha having actually made a conquest of 
Chitor ; for it is not only included in the eighteen capitals enumer
ated as appertaining to this prince, but the author discovered a 
tablet 1  in Chitor, placed there by his successor, Kumarpal, bear
ing the date S. 1206, the period of Samarsi's birth. The first 
occasion of Samarsi's aid being called in by the Chauhan emperor 
was on the discovery of treasure at Nagor, amounting to seven 
millions of gold, the deposit of ancient days. The princes of 
Kanauj and Patan, dreading the influence which such sinews of 
war would afford their antagonist, invited Shihabu-d-din to aid 
their designs of humiliating the Chauhan, who in this emergency 
sent an embassy to Samarsi. The envoy was Chand Pundir, the 
vassal chief of Lahore, and guardian of that frontier. He is con
spicuous from this time to the hour " when he planted his lance at 
the ford of the Ravi," and fell in opposing the passage of Shihabu
d-din. The presents he carries, the speech with which he greets 
the Chitor prince, his reception, reply, and dismissal are all pre
served by [257] Chand. The style of address and the apparel 
of Samarsi betoken that he had not laid aside the office and 
ensigns of a ' Regent of Mahadeva.' A simple necklace of the 
seeds of the lotus adorned his neck ; his hair was braided, and he 
is addressed as Jogindra, or chief of ascetics. Samarsi proceeded 
to Delhi ; and it was arranged, as he was connected by marriage 
with the prince of Patan, that Prithiraj should march against 
this prince, while he should oppose the army from Ghazni. He 
1 See luscriptiou No. 5. 
(Samarsi) accordingly fought several indecisive battles, which gave 
time to the Chauhan to terminate the war in Gujarat and rejoin 
him. United, they completely discomfited the invaders, making 
their leader prisoner. Samarsi declined any share of the dis
covered treasure, but permitted his chiefs to accept the gifts 
offered by Chauhan. Many years elapsed in such subordinate 
warfare, when the prince of Chitor was again constrained to use 
his buckler in defence of Delhi and its prince, whose arrogance 
and successful ambition, followed by disgraceful inactivity, in
vited invasion with every presage of success. Jealousy and 
revenge rendered the princes of Patan, Kanauj, Dhar, and the 
minor courts indifferent spectators of a contest destined to over
throw them all. 

==The Death of Samar Singh==

The bard gives a good description 
of the preparations for his departure from Chitor, which he was 
destined never to see again. The charge of the city was entrusted 
to a favourite and younger son, Kama : which disgusted the 
elder brother, who went to the Deccan to Bidar, where he was 
well received by an Abyssinian chief,1 who had there established 
himself in sovereignty. Another son, either on this occasion or 
on the subsequent fall of Chitor, fled to the mountains of Nepal, 
and there spread the Guhilot line.2  It is in this, the last of the 
books of Chand, termed The Great Fight, that we have the char
acter of Samarsi fully delineated. His arrival at Delhi is hailed 
with songs of joy as a day of deliverance. Prithiraj and his court 
advance seven miles to meet him, and the description of the 
greeting of the king of Delhi and his sister, and the chiefs on either 
side who recognize ancient friendships, is most animated. Sam
arsi reads his brother-in-law an indignant lecture on his unprincely 
inactivity, and throughout the book divides attention with him. 

In the planning of the campaign, and march towards the 
Ghaggar to meet the foe [258], Samarsi is consulted, and his 
opinions are recorded. The bard represents him as the Ulysses 
of the host : brave, cool, and skilful in the fight ; prudent, wise, 
and eloquent in council ; pious and decorous on all occasions ; 
beloved by his own chiefs, and reverenced by the vassals of the 
Chauhan. In the line of march no augur or bard could better 

1 Styled Habshi Padshah. 
2  [The Gorkhas or Gurkhas are said to have reached Nepal through 
Kumaun after the fall of Chitor {IGI, xix. 32).] 
explain the omens, none in the field better dress the squadrons 
for battle, none guide his steed or use his lance with more address. 
His tent is the principal resort of the leaders after the march 
or in the intervals of battle, who were delighted by his eloquence 
or instructed by his knowledge. The bard confesses that his 
precepts of government are chiefly from the lips of Khuman ; 1
and of his best episodes and allegories, whether on morals, rules 
for the guidance of ambassadors, choice of ministers, religious or 
social duties (but especially those of the Rajput to the sovereign), 
the wise prince of Chitor is the general organ. 

On the last of three days' desperate fighting Samarsi was slain, 
together with his son Kalyan, and thirteen thousand of his house
hold troops and most renowned chieftains.2  His beloved Pirtha, 
on hearing the fatal issue, her husband slain, her brother captive, 
the heroes of Delhi and Chitor " asleep on the banks of the Ghaggar, 
in the wave of the steel," joined her lord through the flame, nor 
waited the advance of the Tatar king, when Delhi was carried 
by storm, and the last stay of the Chauhans, Prince Rainsi, met 
death in the assault. The capture of Delhi and its monarch, the 
death of his ally of Chitor, with the bravest and best of their 
troops, speedily ensured the further and final success of the Tatar 
arms ; and when Kanauj fell, and the traitor to his nation met 
his fate in the waves of the Ganges, none were left to contend with 
Shihabu-d-din the possession of the regal seat of the Chauhan. 
Scenes of devastation, plunder, and massacre commenced, which 
lasted through ages ; during which nearly all that was sacred in 
religion or celebrated in art was destroyed by these ruthless and 
barbarous invaders. The noble Rajput, with a spirit of constancy 
and enduring courage, seized every opportunity to turn upon his 
oppressor. By his perseverance and valour he wore out entire 
dynasties of foes, alternately yielding ' to his fate,' or restricting 
the circle of conquest. Every road in Rajasthan was moistened 
with torrents of blood of the [259] spoiled and the spoiler. But 
all was of no avail ; fresh supplies were ever pouring in, and 
dynasty succeeded dynasty, heir to the same remorseless feeling 
which sanctified murder, legalized spoliation, and deified destruc

1  I have already mentioned that Khuman became a patronymic and 
title amongst the princes of Chitor. 
2  [The battle was fought at Tarain or Talawari in the Ambala District, 
Panjab, in 1192.] 
tion. In these desperate conflicts entire tribes were swept away 
whose names are the only memento of their former existence and 
celebrity. 

==Gallant Resistance of the Rajputs==

What nation on earth 
would have maintained the semblance of civilization, the spirit 
or the customs of their forefathers, during so many centuries 
of overwhelming depression but one of such singular character 
as the Rajput ? Though ardent and reckless, he can, when 
required, subside into forbearance and apparent apathy, and 
reserve himself for the opportunity of revenge. Rajasthan 
exhibits the sole example in the history of mankind of a people 
withstanding every outrage barbarity can inflict, or human 
nature sustain, from a foe whose religion commands annihilation, 
and bent to the earth, yet rising buoyant from the pressure, and 
making calamity a whetstone to courage. How did the Britons 
at once sink under the Romans, and in vain strive to save their 
groves, their druids, or the altars of Bal from destruction ! To 
the Saxons they alike succumbed ; they, again, to the Danes ; 
and this heterogeneous breed to the Normans. Empire was lost 
and gained by a single battle, and the laws and religion of the 
conquered merged in those of the conquerors. Contrast with 
these the Rajputs ; not an iota of their religion or customs have 
they lost, though many a foot of land. Some of their States have 
been expunged from the map of dominion ; and, as a punishment 
of national infidelity, the pride of the Rathor, and the glory of 
the Chalukya, the overgrown Kanauj and gorgeous Anhilwara, 
are forgotten names ! Mewar alone, the sacred bulwark of 
religion, never compromised her honour for her safety, and still 
survives her ancient limits ; and since the brave Samarsi gave 
up his life, the blood of her princes has flowed in copious streams 
for the maintenance of this honour, religion, and independence. 

==Karan Singh I. : Ratan Singh==

Samarsi had several sons ; 1  
but Kama was his heir, and during his minority his mother, Kuram
devi, a princess of Patau, nobly maintained what his father left. 
She headed her Rajputs and gave battle 2  in person to Kutbu-d-din, 
3  Kalyanrae, slain with his father; Kumbhkaran, who went to Bidar; 
a third, the founder of the Gorkhas. [This assertion, based on the authority 
of Chand, is incorrect, Samar Singh being misplaced, and succeeded by 
Ratan Singh (Erskine ii. A. 146).] 
2 This must be the battle mentioned by Ferishta (see Dow, p. 169, vol. ii.). 
near [260] Amber, when the viceroy was defeated and wounded . 
Nine Rajas, and eleven chiefs of inferior dignity with the title of 
Rawat, followed the mother of their prince. 

Kama (the radiant) succeeded in S. 1249 (a.d. 1193) ; but he 
was not destined to be the founder of a line in Mewar.1  The 
annals are at variance with each other on an event which gave the 
sovereignty of Chitor to a younger branch, and sent the elder into 
the inhospitable wilds of the west, to found a city - and per
petuate a line.2  It is stated generally that Kama had two sons, 
Mahup and Rahup ; but this is an error : Samarsi and Surajmall 
were brothers : Kama was the son of the former and Mahup was 
his son, whose mother was a Chauhan of Bagar. Surajmall had a 
son named Bharat, who was driven from Chitor by a conspiracy. 
He proceeded to Sind, obtained Aror from its prince, a Musalman, 
and married the daughter of the Bhatti chief of Pugal, by whom 
he had a son named Rahup. Kama died of grief for the loss of 
Bharat and the unworthiness of Mahup, who abandoned him to 
live entirely with his maternal relations, the Chauhans. 

The Sonigira chief of Jalor had married the daughter of Kama, 
1  He had a son, Sarwan, who took to commerce. Hence the mercantile 
Sesodia caste, Sarwania. 
2  Dungarpur, so named from dungar, ' a mountain.' 
3  [The facts are tliat after " Karan Singh the Mewar family divided into 
one with the title of Rawal, the other Rana. In the first, 
or Rawal, branch were Khem or Kshem Singh, the eldest son of Karan Singh, 
Samant Singh, Kumar Singh, Mathan Singh, Padam Singh, Jeth Singh, Tej 
Singh, Samar Singh, and Ratan Singh, all of whom reigned at Chitor ; while 
in the Rana branch were Rahup, a younger son of Karan Singh, Narpat, 
Dinkaran, Jaskaran,Nagpal, Puranpal, PrithiPal, Bhuvan Singh, Bhim Singh, 
Jai Singh, and Lakshman Singh, who ruled at Sesoda, and called themselves 
Sesodias. Thus, instead of having to fit in something like ten generations 
between Samar Singh, who, as we know, was ahve in 1299, and the siege of 
Chitor, which certainly took place in 1303, we fijid that those ten princes 
were not descendants of Samar Singh at all, but the contemporaries of his 
seven immediate predecessors on the gaddi of Chitor and of himself, and 
that both Ratan Singh, the son of Samar Singh, and Lakshman Singh, the 
contemporary of Ratan Singh, were descended from a common ancestor, 
Karan Singh I., nine and eleven generations back respectively. It is also 
possible to reconcile the statement of the Musalman historians that Ratan 
singh (called Rai Ratan ) was ruler of chitor during the siege--
a statement corroborated by an inscription at Rajnagar— 

with the generally accepted 
story that it was Rana Lakshman Singh who fell in defence of the fort " 
(Erskine ii. A. 15).] 
by whom he had a child named Randhol, 1  whom by treachery he 
placed on the throne of Chitor, slaying the chief Guhilots. Mahup 
being unable to recover his rights, and unwilling to make any 
exertion, the chair of Bappa Rawal would have passed to the 
Chauhans but for an ancient bard of the house. He pursued his 
way to Aror, held by old Bharat as a fief of Kabul. With the 
levies of Sind he marched to claim the right abandoned by Mahup 
and at Pali encountered and defeated the Sonigiras. The re
tainers of Mewar flocked to his standard, and by their aid he 
enthroned himself in Chitor. He sent for his father and mother, 
Ranangdevi, whose dwelling on the Indus was made over to a 
younger brother, who bartered his faith for Aror, and held it as 
a vassal of Kabul. 

==Rahup==

Rahup obtained Chitor in S. 1257 (a.d. 1201), and 
shortly after sustained the attack of Shamsu-d-din, whom he met 
and overcame in a battle at Nagor. Two [261] great changes 
were introduced by this prince ; the first in the title of the tribe, 
to Sesodia ; the other in that of its prince, from Rawal to Rana. 
The puerile reason for the former has already been noticed ; 2  the 
cause of the latter is deserving of more attention. Amongst the 
foes of Rahup was the Parihar prince of Mandor : his name Mokal, 
with the title of Rana. Rahup seized him in his capital and 
brought him to Sesoda, making him renounce the rich district 
of Godwar and his title of Rana, which he assumed himself, to 
denote the completion of his feud. He ruled thirty-eight years 
in a period of great distraction, and appears to have been well 
calculated, not only to uphold the fallen fortunes of the State, 
but to rescue them from utter ruin. His reign is the more re
markable by contrast with his successors, nine of whom are 
' pushed from their stools ' in the same or even a shorter period 
than that during which he upheld the dignity. 

From Rahup to Lakhamsi [Lakshman Singh], in the short 
space of half a century, nine princes of Chitor were crowned, and 
at nearly equal intervals of time followed each other to ' the 
mansions of the sun.' Of these nine, six fell in battle. Nor did 
they meet their fate at home, but in a chivalrous enterprise to 
redeem the sacred Gaya from the pollution of the barbarian. 

1 So pronounced, but properly written Randhaval, ' the standard of the 
field.' 
2 See note, p. 252. 
VOL. I X 
For this object these princes successively fell, but such devotion 
inspired fear, if not pity or conviction, and the bigot renounced 
the impiety which Prithunall purchased with his blood, and until 
Alau-d-din's reign, this outrage to their prejudices was renounced. 
But in this interval they had lost their capital, for it is stated as 
the only occurrence in Bhonsi's ^ reign that he [262] " recovered 
Chitor " and made the name of Rana be acknowledged by all. 
Two memorials are preserved of the nine princes from Rahup to 
Lakhamsi, and of the same character : confusion and strife 
within and without. We will, therefore, pass over these to 
another grand event in the vicissitudes of this house, which 
possesses more of romance than of history, though the facts are 
undoubted. 

1 His second son, Chandra, obtained an appanage on the Charabal, and 
his issue, well known as Chandarawats, constituted one of the most powerful 
vassal clans of Mewar. Rampura (Bhanpura) was their residence, yielding a 
revenue of nine lakhs (£110,000), held on the tenure of service which, from 
an original grant in my possession from Rana Jagat Singh to his nephew 
Madho Singh, afterwards prince of Amber, was three thousand horse and foot 
(see p. 235), and the fine of investiture was seventy-five thousand rupees. 
Madho Singh, when prince of Amber, did what was invahd as well as un
grateful ; he made over this domain, granted during his misfortunes, to 
Holkar, the first limb lopped off Mewar. The Chandarawat proprietor con
tinued, however, to possess a portion of the original estate with the fortress 
of Amad, which it maintained throughout all the troubles of Rajwara till 
A.D. 1821. It shows the attachment to custom that the young Rao apphed 
and received ' the sword ' of investiture from his old lord paramount, the 
Rana, though dependent on Holkar's forbearance. But a minority is pro
verbially dangerous in India. Disorder from party plots made Amad 
troublesome to Holkar's government, which as his ally and preserver of 
tranquillity we suppressed by blowing up the walls of the fortress. This is 
one of many instances of the harsh, uncompromising nature of our power, 
and the anomalous description of our alhances with the Rajputs. However 
necessary to repress the disorder arising from the claims of ancient pro
prietors and the recent rights of Holkar, or the new proprietor, Ghafur 
Khan, yet surrounding princes, and the general population, Mdio know the 
history of past times, lament to see a name of five hundred years' duration 
thus summarily extinguished, which chiefly benefits an upstart Pathan. 
Such the vortex of the ambiguous, irregular, and unsystematic policy, which 
marks many of our alhances, which protect too often but to injure, and gives 
to our office of general arbitrator and high constable of Rajasthan a harsh 
and unfeeHng character. Much of this arises from ignorance of the past 
history ; much from disregard of the peculiar usages of the people ; or from 
that expediency which too often comes in contact with moral fitness, which 
will go on until tlic day predicted by the Nestor of India, when " one sikha 
(seal) alone will be used in Hindustan." 
==Lakhamsi : Lachhman Singh==

Lakhamsi 1 succeeded his father 
in S. 1331 (a.d. 1275), a memorable era in the annals, when Chitor, 
the repository of all that was precious yet untouched of the arts 
of India, was stormed, sacked, and treated with remorseless 
barbarity by the Pathan [Khilji] emperor, Alau-d-din. Twice 
it was attacked by this subjugator of India. In the first siege 
it escaped spoliation, though at the price of its best defenders : 
that which followed is the first successful assault and capture of 
which we have any detailed account. 

==Bhim Singh : Padmini==
Bhimsi was the uncle of the young 
prince, and protector during his minority. He had espoused the 
daughter of Hamir Sank (Chauhan) of Ceylon, the cause of woes 
unnumbered to the Sesodias. Her name was Padmini, 2  a title 
bestowed only on the superlatively fair, and transmitted with 
renown to posterity by tradition and the song of the bard. Her 
beauty, accomplishments, exaltation, and destruction, with other 
incidental circumstances, constitute the subject of one of the most 
popular traditions of Rajwara. The Hindu bard recognizes the 
fair, in preference to fame and love of conquest, as the motive for 
the attack of Alau-d-din, who [263] limited his demand to the 
possession of Padmini ; though this was after a long and fruitless 
siege. At length he restricted his desire to a mere sight of this 
extraordinary beauty, and acceded to the proposal of beholding 
her through the medium of mirrors. Relying on the faith of the 
Rajput, he 'entered Chitor slightly guarded, and having gratified 
his wish, returned. The Rajput, unwilling to be outdone in con
fidence, accompanied the king to the foot of the fortress, amidst 
many complimentary excuses from his guest at the trouble he 
thus occasioned. It was for this that Ala risked his own safety, 
relying on the superior faith of the Hindu. Here he had an 

1  [Rana Lachhman Singh was not, strictly speaking, ruler of Chitor. He 
belonged to the Rana branch, and succeeded Jai Singh. When Chitor was 
invested he came to lielp his relation, Rawal Ratan Singh, husband of 
Padmini, and ruler of Chitor, and was killed, with seven of his sons (Erskine 
ii. B. 10).] 
2 [' The Lotus.' Ferishta in his account of the siege aaya nothing of 
Padmini (i. 353 f.). Her story is told in Ain, ii. 269 f.]{j 
ambush ; Bhimsi was made prisoner, hurried away to the Tatar 
camp, and his hberty made dependent on the surrender of 
Padmini. 

==The Siege of Chitor==

Despair reigned in Chitor when this fatal 
event was known, and it was debated whether Padmini should be 
resigned as a ransom for their defender. Of this she was informed, 
and expressed her acquiescence. Having provided wherewithal 
to secure her from dishonour, she communed with two chiefs of 
her own kin and clan of Ceylon, her uncle Gora, and his nephew 
Badal, who devised a scheme for the liberation of their prince 
without hazarding her life or fame. Intimation was dispatched 
to Ala that on the day he withdrew from his trenches the fair 
Padmini would be sent, but in a manner befitting her own and 
his high station, surrounded by her females and handmaids ; not 
only those who would accompany her to DeUii, but many others 
who desired to pay her this last mark of reverence. Strict com
mands were to be issued to prevent curiosity from violating the 
sanctity of female decorum and privacy. No less than seven 
hundred covered litters proceeded to the royal camp. In each 
was placed one of the bravest of the defenders of Chitor, borne by 
six armed soldiers disguised as litter-porters. They reached the 
camp. The royal tents were enclosed with kanats (walls of cloth) ; 
the litters were deposited, and half an hour was granted for ji 
parting interview between the Hindu prince and his bride. They 
then placed their prince in a litter and returned with him, while 
the greater number (the supposed damsels) remained to accom
pany the fair to Delhi. 1  But Ala had no intention to permit 
Bhimsi's return, and was becoming jealous of the long interview 
he enjoyed, when, instead of the prince and Padmini, the devoted 
band issued from their litters : but Ala was too well guarded. 
Pursuit was ordered, while these covered the retreat till they 
perished to a man. A fleet horse was in reserve for [264] Bhimsi, 
on which he was placed, and in safety ascended the fort, at whose 
outer gate the host of Ala was encountered. The choicest of the 
heroes of Chitor met the assault. With Gora and Badal at their 
head, animated by the noblest sentiments, the deliverance of 
their chief and the honour of their queen, they devoted them

1  [A folk-tale of the ' Horse of Troy ' type, common in India ; see 
Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, 4 f. ; Ferishta ii. 115; Grant Duff, Hist. 
Mahrattas, 64, note ; cf . Herodotus v. 20.] 
selves to destruction, and few were the survivors of this slaughter 
of the flower of Mewar. For a tinie Ala was defeated in his object, 
and the havoc they had made in his ranks, joined to the dread 
of their determined resistance, obUged him to desist from the 
enterprise. 

Mention has already been made of the adjuration, " by the 
sin of the sack of Chitor." Of these sacks they enumerate three 
and a half. This is the ' half ' ; for though the city was not 
stormed, the best and bravest were cut off (sakha). It is described 
with great animation in the Khuman Raesa. Badal was but a 
stripling of twelve, but the Rajput expects wonders from this 
early age. He escaped, though wounded, and a dialogue ensues 
between him and his uncle's wife, who desires him to relate 
how her lord conducted himself ere she joins him. The stripling 
replies : " He was the reaper of the harvest of battle ; I followed 
his steps as the humble gleaner of his sword. On the gory 
bed of honour he spread a carpet of the slain ; a barbarian 
prince his pillow, he laid him down, and sleeps surrounded by 
the foe." Again she said : " Tell me, Badal, how did my love 
(piyar) behave ? " " Oh ! mother, how further describe his 
deeds when he left no foe to dread or admire him ? " She smiled 
farewell to the boy, and adding, " My lord will chide my delay," 
sprung into the flame. 

Alau-d-din, having recruited his strength, returned to his 
object, Chitor. The annals state this to have been in S. 1346 
(a.d. 1290), but Ferishta gives a date thirteen years later.1  They 
had not yet recovered the loss of so many valiant men who had 
sacrificed themselves for their prince's safety, and Ala carried on 
his attacks more closely, and at length obtained the hill at the 
southern point, where he entrenched himself. They still pretend 
to point out his trenches ; but so many have been formed by 
subsequent attacks that we cannot credit the assertion. The 
poet has found in the disastrous issue of this siege admirable 
materials for his song. He represents the Rana, after an arduous 
day, stretched on his paUet, and during a night of watchful 
anxiety, pondering on the means by which he might preserve from 
the general destruction one at least of his twelve sons ; when a 
voice [265] broke on his solitude, exclaiming, " Main bhukhi 

1  [Chitor was captured in August 1303 (Ferishta i. 353 ; Elliot-Dowson 
iii. 77).] 
ho'" ; 1 and raising his eyes, he saw, by the dim glare of the 
chiragh,2  advancing between the granite columns, the majestic 
form of the guardian goddess of Chitor. " Not satiated," ex
claimed the Rana, " though eight thousand of my kin were late 
an offering to thee ? " "I must have regal victims ; and if 
twelve who wear the diadem bleed not for Chitor, the land will 
pass from the line." This said, she vanished. 

On the morn he convened a council of his chiefs, to whom he 
revealed the vision of the night, which they treated as the dream 
of a disordered fancy. He commanded their attendance at mid
night ; when again the form appeared, and repeated the terms 
on which alone she would remain amongst them. " Though 
thousands of barbarians strew the earth, what are they to me ? 
On each day enthrone a prince. Let the kirania, 2  the chhatra 
and the chamara, 3  proclaim his sovereignty, and for three days 
let his decrees be supreme : on the fourth let him meet the foe 
and his fate. Then only may I remain." 

Whether we have merely the fiction of the poet, or whether 
the scene was got up to animate the spirit of resistance, matters 
but little, it is consistent with the belief of the tribe ; and that 
the goddess should openly manifest her wish to retain as her tiara 
the battlements of Chitor on conditions so congenial to the war
like and superstitious Rajput was a gage readily taken up and 
fully answering the end. A generous contention arose amongst 
the brave brothers who should be the first victim to avert the 
denunciation. Arsi urged his priority of birth : he was pro
claimed, the umbrella waved over his head, and on the fourth 
day he surrendered his short-lived honours and his life. Ajaisi, 
the next in birth, demanded to follow ; but he was the favourite 
son of his father, and at his request he consented to let his brothers 
precede him. Eleven had fallen in turn, and but one victim 
remained to the salvation of the city, when the Rana, calling 
his chiefs around him, said, " Now I devote myself for Chitor." 

==The Johar==
But another awful sacrifice was to precede this 
act of self-devotion in that horrible rite, the Johar,4  where the 
1  ' I am hungry.'    2  Lamp. 
3  These are the insignia of royalty. The kirania is a parasol, from 
kiran, ' a ray ' : the chhatra is the umbrella, always red ; the chamara, the 
flowing tail of the wild ox, set in a gold handle, and used to drive away the flies. 

4  [Sir G. Grierson informs me that Johar or Jauhar is derived from Jatu
females are immolated to preserve theni from pollution or cap
tivity. The funeral pyre was lighted within the ' great sub
terranean retreat,' in chambers impervious to the light [266] of 
day, and the defenders of Chitor beheld in procession the queens, 
their own wives and daughters, to the number of several thou
sands. The fair Padmini closed the throng, which was augmented 
by whatever of female beauty or youth could be tainted by Tatar 
lust. They were conveyed to the cavern, and the opening closed 
upon them, leaving them to find security from dishonour in the 
devouring element. 

A contest now arose between the Rana and his surviving son ; 
but the father prevailed, and Ajaisi, in obedience to his commands, 
with a small band passed through the enemy's lines, and reached 
Kelwara in safety. The Rana, satisfied that his line was not 
extinct, now prepared to follow his brave sons ; and calling 
around him his devoted clans, for whom life had no longer any 
charms, they threw open the portals and descended to the plains, 
and with a reckless despair carried death, or met it, in the crowded 
ranks of Ala. The Tatar conqueror took possession of an inani
mate capital, strewed with brave defenders, the smoke yet issuing 
from the recesses where lay consumed the once fair object of his 
desire ; and since this devoted day the cavern has been sacred : 
no eye has penetrated its gloom, and superstition has placed as 
its guardian a huge serpent, whose ' venomous breath ' extin
guishes the fight which might guide intruders to ' the place of 
sacrifice.' 

==The Conquests of Alau-d-dln==
Thus fell, in a.d. 1303, this 
celebrated capital, in the round of conquest of Alau-d-din, one 
of the most vigorous and warlike sovereigns who have occupied 
griha, ' a house built of lac or other combustibles,' in allusion to the story 
in the Mahabliarata (i. chap. 141-151) of the attempted destruction of the 
Pandavas by setting such a building on fire. For other examples of the rite 
see Ferishta i. 59 f. ; Elliot-Dowson i. 313, 536 f., iii. 426, 433, iv. 277, 402, 
V. 101 ; Forbes, Ras Mala, 286 ; Malcolm, Memoir Central India, 2nd ed. 
1. 483. For recent cases Irvine, Army of the Indian Moghuls, 242 ; Punjab 
Notes and Queries, iv. 102 ff.] 

1  The Author has been at the entrance of this retreat, which, according 
to the Khuman Raesa, conducts to a subterranean palace, but the m.ephitic 
vapours and venomous reptiles did not invite to adventure, even had official 
situation permitted such slight to these prejudices. The Author is the only 
EngUshman admitted to Chitor since the days of Herbert., who appears to 
have described what he sav.'. 
the throne of India. In success, and in one of the means of 
attainment, a bigoted hypocrisy, he bore a striking resemblance 
to Aurangzeb ; and the title of ' Sikandaru-s-Sani,' or the second 
Alexander, which he assumed and impressed on his coins, was no 
idle vaunt. The proud Anhilwara, the ancient Dhar and Avanti, 
Mandor and Deogir, the seats of the Solankis, the Pramaras, the 
Pariharas and Taks, the entire Agnikula race, were overturned 
for ever by Ala. Jaisalmer, Gagraun, Bundi, the abodes of the 
Bhatti, the Khichi, and the Hara, with many of minor importance, 
suffered all the horrors of assault from this foe of the race, though 
destined again to raise their heads. The Rathors of Marwar and 
the [267] Kachhwahas of Amber were yet in a state of insigni
ficance : the former were slowly creeping into notice as the 
vassals of the Pariharas, while the latter could scarcely withstand 
the attacks of the original Mina population. Ala remained in 
Chitor some days, admiring the grandeur of his conquest ; and 
having committed every act of barbarity and wanton dilapida
tion which a bigoted zeal could suggest, overthrowing the temples 
and other monuments of art, he delivered the city in charge to 
Maldeo, the chief of Jalor, whom he had conquered and enrolled 
amongst his vassals. The palace of Bhim and the fair Padmini 
alone appears to have escaped the wrath of Ala ; it would be 
pleasing could we suppose any kinder sentiment suggested the 
exception, which enables the author of these annals to exhibit 
the abode of the fair of Ceylon.

==The Flight of Rana Ajai Singh==

The survivor of Chitor, Rana 
Ajaisi, was now in security at Kelwara, a town situated in the 
heart of the Aravalli mountains, the western boundary of Mewar, 
to which its princes had been indebted for twelve centuries of 
dominion. Kelwara is at the highest part of one of its most ex
tensive valleys, termed the Shero Nala, the richest district of this 
Alpine region. Guarded by faithful adherents, Ajaisi cherished 
for future occasion the wrecks of Mewar. It was the last behest 
of his father that when he attained ' one hundred years ' (a 
figurative expression for dying) the son of Arsi, the elder brother, 
should succeed him. This injunction, from the deficiency of the 
qualities requisite at such a juncture in his own sons, met a ready 
compliance. Hamir was this son, destined to redeem the promise 
of the genius of Chitor and the lost honours of his race, and whose 
birth and early history fill many a page of their annals.
 [[File: the  flight of raina ajai singh.png||frame|500px]]   
His father, Arsi, being out on a hunting excursion in the forest of 
Ondua, with some young chiefs of the court, in pursuit of the 
boar entered a field of maize, when a female offered to drive out 
the game. Pulling one of the stalks of maize, which grows to the 
height of ten or twelve feet, she pointed it, and mounting the 
platform made to watch the corn, impaled the hog, dragged him 
before the hunters, and departed. Though accustomed to feats of 
strength and heroism from the nervous arms of their country
women, the act surprised them. They descended to the stream 
at hand, and prepared the repast, as is usual, on the spot. The 
feast was held, and comments were passing on the fair arm which 
had transfixed the boar, when a baU of clay from a sling fractured 
a limb of the prince's steed. Looking in the direction whence 
it [268] came, they observed the same damsel, from her elevated 
stand,^ preserving her fields from aerial depredators ; but seeing 
the mischief she had occasioned she descended to express her 
regret and then returned to her pursuit. As they were pro
ceeding homewards after the sports of the day, they again encoun
tered the damsel, with a vessel of milk on her head, and leading 
in either hand a young buffalo. It was proposed, in frolic, to 
overturn her milk, and one of the companions of the prince 
dashed rudely by her ; but without being disconcerted, she 
entangled one of her charges with the horse's limbs and brought 
the rider to the ground. On inquiry the prince discovered that 
she was the daughter of a poor Rajput of the Chandano tribe.2  
He returned the next day to the same quarter and sent for her 
father, who came and took his seat with perfect independence 
close to the prince, to the merriment of his companions, which 
was checked by Arsi asking his daughter to wife. They were yet 
more surprised by the demand being refused. The Rajput, on 
going home, told the more prudent mother, who scolded him 
heartily, made him recall the refusal, and seek the prince. They 
were married, and Hamir was the son of the Chandano Rajputni.3  

1 A stand is fixed upon four poles in the middle of a field, on which a 
guard is placed armed with a shng and clay balls, to drive away the ravens, 
peacocks, and other birds that destroy the corn. 
2  One of the branches of the Ghauhan. 
3 [The same tale is told of Dhadij, grandson of Prithiraj. the ancestor of 
the Dahiya Jats (Rose, Glossary, ii. 220 ; Risley, People of India, 2nd ed., 
179 f.).] 
He remained little noticed at the maternal abode till the cata
strophe of Chitor. At this period lie was twelve years of age, and had 
led a rustic Ufe, from which the necessity of the times recalled him.

==Mewar occupied by the Musalmans : The Exploit of Hamir==


Mewar was now occupied by the garrisons of Delhi, and Ajaisi 
had besides to contend with the mountain chiefs, amongst whom 
Munja Balaicha was the most formidable, who had, on a recent 
occasion, invaded the Shero Nala, and personally encountered 
the Rana, whom he wounded on the head with a lance. The 
Rana's sons, Sajansi and Ajamsi, though fourteen and fifteen, an 
age at which a Rajput ought to indicate his future character, 
proved of little aid in the emergency. Hamir was summoned, 
and accepted the feud against Munja, promising to return success
ful or not at all. In a few days he was seen entering the pass of 
Kelwara with Munja's head at his saddle-bow. Modestly placing 
the trophy at his uncle's feet, he exclaimed : " Recognize the 
head of your foe ! " Ajaisi ' kissed his beard,'  and observing 
that fate had stamped empire on his forehead, impressed [269] it 
with a tika of blood from the head of the Balaicha. This decided 
the fate of the sons of Ajaisi ; one of whom died at Kelwara, and 
the other, Sajansi, who might have excited a civil war, was sent 
from the country.'- He departed for the Deccan, where his issue 
was destined to avenge some of the wrongs the parent country 
had sustained, and eventually to overturn the monarchy of 
Hindustan ; for Sajansi was the ancestor of Sivaji, the founder of 
the Satara throne, whose lineage ' is given in the chronicles of 
Mewar. 

1 This is an idiomatic phrase ; Hamir could have had no beard. 
2 Des desa. 
3  Ajaisi, Sajansi, DaHpji, Sheoji, Bhoraji, Deoraj, Ugarsen, Mahulji, 
Kheluji, Jankoji, Satuji, Sambhaji, Sivaji (the founder of the Mahratta 
nation), Sambhaji, Ramraja, usurpation of the Peshwas. The Satara 
throne, but for the jealousies of Udaipur, might on the imbecility of Ramraja 
have been replenished from Mewar. It was offered to Nathji, the grand
father of the present chief Sheodan Singh, presumptive heir to Chitor. Two 
noble hues were reared from princes of Chitor expelled on similar occasions ; 
those of Sivaji and the Gorkhas of Nepal. [This pedigree is largely the work 
of the bards. But the Mahrattas, who seem to be chiefly sprung from the 
Kunbi peasantry, claim Rajput origin, and several of their clans bear 
Rajput names. It is said that in 1836 the Rana of Mewar was satisfied 
that the Bhonslas and certain other families had the right to be regarded 
as Rajputs {Census Report, Bombay, 1901, i. 184 f. ; Russell, Tribes and Castes 
Central Provinces, iv. 199 fif.).] 

==Rana Hamir Singh, a.d. 1301-64==

Hamir succeeded in S. 1357 
(a.d. 1301), and had sixty-four years granted to him to redeem 
his country from the ruins of the past century, which period had 
elapsed since India ceased to own the paramount sway of her 
native princes. The day on which he assumed the ensigns of rule 
he gave, in the tika daur, an earnest of his future energy, which 
he signalized by a rapid inroad into the heart of the country of 
the predatory Balaicha, and captured their stronghold Pusalia. 
We may here explain the nature of this custom of a barbaric 
chivalry. 

==The Inaugural Foray==

The tika daur signifies the foray of 
inauguration, which obtained from time immemorial on such 
events, and is yet maintained where any semblance of hostility 
will allow its execution. On the morning of installation, having 
previously received the tika of sovereignty, the prince at the head 
of his retainers makes a foray into the territory of any one with 
whom he may have a feud, or with whom he may be indifferent 
as to exciting one ; he captures a stronghold or plunders a town, 
and returns with the trophies. If amity should prevail with all 
around, which the prince cares not to disturb, they have still a 
mock representation of the custom. For many reigns after the 
Jaipur princes united their fortunes to the throne of Delhi their 
frontier town, Malpura, was the object of the tika daur of the 
princes of Mewar. 

==Chitor under a Musahnan Garrison==

When Ajmall 1  went 
another road," as the bard figuratively describes the demise of 
Rana Ajaisi, " the son of Arsi unsheathed the sword, thence never 
stranger to his hand." Maldeo remained with the royal garrison 
at Chitor," but Hamir [270] desolated their plains, and left to his 
eneinies only the fortified towns which could safely be inhabited. 
He commanded all who owned his sovereignty either to quit 
their abodes, and retire with their families to the shelter of the 
hills on the eastern and western frontiers, or share the fate of the 
pubhc enemy. The roads were rendered impassable fi'om his 
parties, who issued from their retreats in the Aravalli, the security 
2  This is a poetical version of the name of Ajaisi ; a Uberty frequently 
taken by the bards for the sake of rhyme. 
3  [From an inscription at Chitor it appears that the fort remained in the 
charge of Muhammadans up to the time of Muhammad Tughlak (1324-51), 
who appointed Maldeo of Jalor governor (Erskine ii. A. 16). J 
of which baffled pursuit. This destructive pohcy of laying waste 
the resources of their own country, and from this asylum attack
ing their foes as opportimity offered, has obtained from the time 
of Mahmud of Ghazni in the tenth, to Muhammad, the last 
who merited the name of Emperor of Delhi, in the eighteenth 
century. 

==Resistance of Hamir Singh==

Hamir made Kelwara 1  his resi
dence, which soon became the chief retreat of the emigrants from 
the plams. The situation was admirably chosen, being covered 
by several ranges, guarded by intricate defiles, and situated at the 
foot of a pass leading over the mountain into a still more inaccess
ible retreat (where Kumbhalmer now stands),2 well watered and 
wooded, with abundance of pastures and excellent indigenous 
fruits and roots. This tract, above fifty miles in breadth, is 
twelve hundred feet above the level of the plains and three thou
sand above the sea, with a considerable quantity of arable land, 
and free communication to obtain supplies by the passes of the 
western decUvity from Marwar, Gujarat, or the friendly Bhils, 
of the west, to whom this house owes a large debt of gratitude. 
On various occasions the communities of Oghna and Panarwa 
furnished the princes of Mewar with five thousand bowmen, 
supplied them with provisions, or guarded the safety of their 
families when they had to oppose the foe in the field. The ele
vated plateau of the eastern frontier presented in its forests and 
deUs many places of security ; but Ala 3  traversed these in person, 
destroying as he went : neither did they possess the advantages 
of climate and natural productions arising from the elevation of 
the other. Such was the state of Mewar : its places of strength 
occupied by the foe, cultivation and peacefid objects neglected 
from the persevering hostility of Hamir, when a proposal of 
marriage came from the Hindu governor of Chitor, wiiich was 
immediately accepted, contrary to the [271] wishes of the prince's 
advisers. 

==The Recovery of Chitor==

Whether this was intended as a snare 
1  The lake he excavated here, the Hamir-talao, and the temple of the pro
tecthig goddess on its bank, still bear witness of his acts while confined to 
this retreat. 
2  See Plate, view of Kumbhalmer. 
3  I have an inscription, and in Sanskrit, set up by an apostate chief or 
bard in his train, which I found in this tract. 
to entrap him, or merely as an insult, every danger was scouted 
by Hamir which gave a chance to the recovery of Chitor. He 
desired that ' the coco-md   1 might he retained,'' coolly remarking 
on the dangers pointed out, " My feet shall at least tread in the 
rocky steps in which my ancestors have moved. A Rajput should 
always be prepared for reverses ; one day to abandon his abode 
covered with wounds, and the next to reascend with the maur 
(crown) on his head." It was stipulated that only five hundred 
horse should form his suite. As he approached Chitor, the five 
sons of the Chauhan advanced to meet him, but on the portal of 
the city no toran,2  or nuptial emblem, was suspended. He, how
ever, accepted the unsatisfactory reply to his remark on this 
indication of treachery, and ascended for the first time the ramp 
of Chitor. He was received in the ancient halls of his ancestors 
by Rao Maldeo, his son Banbir, and other chiefs, xvith folded 
hands. The bride was brought forth, and presented by her father 
without any of the solemnities practised on such occasions ; ' the 
knot of their gannents tied and their hands united,' and thus they 
were left. The family priest recommended jjatience, and Hamir 
1  This is the symbol of an offer of marriage. 
2  The toran is the symbol of marriage. It consists of three wooden bars, 
forming an equilateral triangle ; mystic in shape and number, and having 
the apex crowned with the effigies of a peacock, it is placed over the portal 
of the bride's abode. At Udaipur, when the princes of Jaisalmer, Bikaner, 
and Kishangarh sinmltarieously jnarried the two daughters and grand
daughter of the Raiia, the torans were suspended from the battlements of 
the tripolia, or three-arched portal, leading to the palace. The bridegrooni. 
on horseback, lance in hand, proceeds to break the toran (toran torna), which 
is defended by the damsels of the bride, who from the parapet assail him 
with missiles of various kinds, especially with a crimson powder made from 
the flowers of the palasa, at the same time singing songs fitted to the occa
sion, replete with doubie-entendres. At length the toran is broken amidst 
the shouts of the retainers ; when the fair defenders retire. The simihtude 
of these ceremonies in the north of Europe and in Asia increases the list of 
common affinities, and indicates the violence of rude times to obtain the 
object of affection ; and the lance, with which the Rajput chieftain breaks 
the toran, has the same emblematic import as the spear, which, at the marri
age of the nobles in Sweden, was a necessary implement in the furniture of 
the marriage chamber (vide Mallett, Northern Antiquities). [The custom 
perhaps represents a symbol of marriage by capture, but it has also been 
suggested that it symbolizes the luck of the bride's fam.ily which the bride
groom acquires by touching the arch with his sword (see Luard, Ethnographic 
Survey Central India, 22 ; Enthoven, Folk-lore Notes Gujarat, 69 ; Russell, 
Tribes and Castes Central Provinces, ii. 410).] 


retired with his bride to the apartments allotted for them. Her 
kindness and vows of fidelity overcame his sadness upon learning 
that he had married a widow. She had been wedded to a chief 
of the Bhatti tribe, shortly afterwards slain, and when she was 
so young as not to recollect even his appearance. He ceased to 
lament the insult when she herself taught him how it might be 
avenged, and that it might even lead to the recovery of Chitor. 
It is a privilege possessed by the bridegroom to have one specific 
favour complied with as a part of the dower (daeja), and Hamir 
was instructed by his bride to ask for Jal, one of the civil [272] 
officers of Chitor, and of the Mehta tribe. With his wife so ob
tained, and the scribe whose talents remained for trial, he returned 
in a fortnight to Kelwara. Khetsi was the fruit of this marriage, 
on which occasion Maldeo made over all the hill tracts to Hamir. 
Khetsi was a year old when one of the penates (Khetrpal) ^ was 
foimd at fault, on which she wrote to her parents to invite her to 
Chitor, that the infant might be placed before the shrine of the 
deity. Escorted by a party from Chitor, with her child she 
entered its walls ; and instructed by the Mehta, she gained over 
the troops who were left, for the Rao had gone with his chief 
adherents against the Mers of Madri. Hamir was at hand. 
Notice that all was ready reached him at Bagor. Still he met 
opposition that had nearly, defeated the scheme ; but having 
forced admission, his sword overcame every obstacle, and the 
oath of allegiance (an) was proclaimed from the palace of his 
fathers. 

The Sonigira on his return was met with ' a salute of arabas,' 2 
and Maldeo himself carried the account of his loss to the Khilji 
king Mahmud, who had succeeded Ala. The ' standard of the 
sun ' once more shone refulgent from the walls of Chitor, and was 
the signal for return to their ancient abodes from their hills and 
hiding-places to the adherents of Hamir. The valleys of Kum
bhalmer and the western highlands poured forth their ' streams of 
men,' while every chief of true Hindu blood rejoiced at the pros
pect of once more throwing off the barbarian yoke. So powerful 
was this feeling, and with such activity and skill did Hamir follow 
up this favour of fortune, that he marched to meet Mahmud, 
1 [Khetrpal, Kshetrapala, is guardian of the field (Kshetra).] 
2  A kind of arquebuss [properly the gun-carriage. Irvine, Army of the 
Indian Moghuls, 140 ff.] 
who was advancing to recover his lost possessions. The king 
unwisely directed his march by the eastern plateau, where numbers 
were rendered useless by the intricacies of the country. Of the 
three steppes which mark the physiognomy of this tract, from the 
first ascent from the plain of Mewar to the descent at Chambal, 
the king had encamped on the central, at Singoli, where he was 
attacked, defeated, and made prisoner by Hamir, who slew Hari 
Singli, brother of Banbir, in single combat. The king suffered a 
confinement of three months in Chitor, nor was liberated till he 
had surrendered Ajmer, Ranthambor, Nagor, and Sui Sopur, 
besides paying fifty lakhs of rupees and one hundred elephants. 
Hamir would exact no promise of cessation from further in
roads, but contented himself with assuring him that from such he 
sliould be prepared to defend Chitor, not within, but without the 
walls [273]. 1 

Banbir, the son of Maldeo, offered to serve Hamir, who assigned 
the districts of Nimach, Jiran, Ratanpur, and the Kerar to main
tain the family of his wife in becoming dignity ; and as he gave 
the grant he remarked : " Eat, serve, and be faithful. You were 
once the servant of a Turk, but now of a Hindu of your own faith ; 
for I have but taken back my own, the rock moistened by the 
blood of my ancestors, the gift of the deity I adore, and who will 
maintain me in it ; nor shall I endanger it by the worship of a 
fair face, as ditl my predecessor." Banbir shortly after carried 
Bhainsror by assault, and this ancient possession guarding the 
Chambal was again added to Mewar.. The chieftains of Rajasthan 
rejoiced once more to see a Hindu take the lead, paid willing 
homage, and aided him with service when required. 

==The Power of Rana Hamir Singh==
Hamir was the sole Hindu 
prince of power now left in India : all the ancient dynasties were 
1  Ferishta does not mention this conquest over the Khilji emperor ; but 
as Mewar recovered her wonted splendour in this reign, we cannot doubt the 
truth of the native annals. [There is a mistake here. The successor of 
Alau-d-dln was Kutbu-d-din Mubarak, who came to the throne in 1316. 
Ferishta says that Rai Ratan Singh of Chitor, who had been taken prisoner 
in the siege, was released by the cleverness of his daughter, and that Alau
d-din ordered his son, Khizr Khan, tO evacuate the place, on which the Rai 
became tributary to Alau-d-dln. Also in 1312 the Rajputs threw the 
Muhammadan officers over the ramparts and asserted their independence 
(Ferishta, trans. Briggs, i. 363, 381). Erskine says that the attack was 
made by Muhammad Tughlak (1324-51).] 
crushed, and the ancestors of the present princes of Marwar and 
Jaipur brought their levies, paid homage, and obeyed the summons 
of the prince of Chitor, as did the chiefs of Bundi, Gwalior, Chan
deri, Raesin, Sikri, Kalpi, Abu, etc. 

Extensive as was the power of Mewar before the Tatar occu
pation of India, it could scarcely have surpassed the solidity 
of sway which she enjoyed during the two centuries following 
Hamir's recovery of the capital. From this event to the next 
invasion from the same Cimmerian abode, led by Babur, we have 
a succession of splendid names recorded in her annals, and though 
destined soon to be surrounded by new Muhammadan dynasties, 
in Malwa and Gujarat as well as Delhi, yet successfully opposing 
them all. The distracted state of affairs when the races of Khilji, 
Lodi, and Sur alternately struggled for and obtained the seat of 
dominion, Delhi, was favourable to Mewar, whose power was 
now so consolidated that she not only repelled armies from her 
territory, but carried war abroad, leaving tokens of victory at 
Nagor, in Saurashtra, and to the walls of Delhi. 

==Public Works==

The subjects of Mewar must have enjoyed not 
only a long repose, but high prosperity during this period, judging 
from their magnificent public works, when a triumphal [274] column 
must have cost the income of a kingdom to erect, and which ten 
years' produce of the crown-lands of Mewar could not at this 
time defray. Only one of the structures prior to the sack of 
Chitor was left entire by Ala, and is yet existing, and this was 
raised by private and sectarian hands. It would be curious if the 
unitarian profession of the Jain creed was the means of preserving 
this ancient relic from Ala's wrath.1 The princes of this house 
were great patrons of the arts, and especially of architecture ; 
and it is a matter of surprise how their revenues, derived chiefly 
from the soil, could have enabled them to expend so much on 
these objects and at the same time maintain such armies as are 
enumerated. Such could be effected only by long prosperity 
and a mild, paternal system of government ; for the subject had 
his monuments as well as the prince, the ruins of which may yet 
be discovered in the more inaccessible or deserted portions of 
Rajasthan. Hamir died fuU of years, leaving a name still 

1 [The Jain tower, kaowu as Kirtti Stamb, ' pillar of fame,' erected in the 
twelfth or thirteenth century by Jija, a Bagherwal Mahajan, and dedicated 
to Adinath, the first Jain TIrthankara or saint.] 
honoured in Mewar, as one of the wisest and most gallant of her 
princes, and bequeathing a well-established and extensive power 
to his son. 

==Kshetra or Khet Singh, a.d. 1364-82==

Khetsi succeeded in 
S. 1421 (a.d. 1365) to the power and to the character of his father. 
He captured Ajnier and Jahazpur from Lila Pathan, and rean
nexed Mandalgarh, Dasor, and the whole of Chappan (for the first 
time) to Mewar. He obtained a victory over the Delhi monarch 
Humayun 1  at Bakrol ; but unhappily his life terminated in a. 
family broil with his vassal, the Hara chief of Bumbaoda, whose 
daughter he was about to espouse. 

==Laksh Singh, a.d. 1382-97==

LakhaRana, by this assassination, 
mounted the throne in Chitor in S. 1439 (a.d. 1373). His first act 
was the entire subjugation of the mountainous region of Merwara, 
and the destruction of its chief stronghold, Bairatgarh, where he 
erected Badnor. But an event of much greater importance than 
settling his frontier, and which most powerfully tended to the 
prosperity of the country, was the discovery of the tin and silver 
mines of Jawara, in the tract wrested by Khetsi from the Bhils 
of Chappan. 2  Lakha Rana has the merit of having first worked 
them, though their existence is superstitiously alluded to so early 
as the period of the founder. It is said the ' seven metals ' {haft
dhat) 3 were formerly [275] abundant ; but this appears figura
tive. We have no evidence for the gold, though silver, tin, 
copper, lead, and antimony were yielded in abundance (the first 
two from the same matrix), but the tin that has been extracted 
for many years past yields but a small portion of silver.4  Lakha 
Rana defeated the Sankhla Rajputs of Nagarchal,5 at Amber. 
He encountered the emperor Muhammad Shah Lodi, and on one 

1  [The contemporary of Khet Singh at Delhi was Firoz Shah Tughlak.] 
2  [The mines at Jawar, sixteen miles south of Udaipur city, produce 
lead, zinc, and some silver. The mention of tin in the text seems wrong 
(Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. vi. Part iv. 356 ; Gomm. Prod. 1077).] 
3  Haft-dhat, corresponding to the planets, each of which ruled a metal : 
hence Mihr, ' the sun,' for gold ; Chandra, ' the moon,' for silver. 
4  They have long been abandoned, the miners are extinct, and the pro
tecting deities of mines are unable to get even a flower placed on their 
shrines, though some have been reconsecrated by the Bhils, who have con
verted Lakshun into Sitalamata (Juno Lucina), whom the Bhil females 
invoke to pass them through danger. 

4  Jhunjhunu, Singhana, and Narbana formed the ancient Nagarchal 
territory. . 
VOL. I • Y 
occasion defeated a royal army at Badnor ; but he carried the 
war to Gaya, and in driving the barbarian from this sacred place 
was slain.1  
Lakha is a name of celebrity, as a patron of the arts 
and benefactor of his country. He excavated many reservoirs 
and lakes, raised immense ramparts to dam their waters, besides 
erecting strongholds. The riches of the mines of Jawara were 
expended to rebuild the temples and palaces levelled by Ala. A 
portion of his own palace yet exists, in the same style of archi
tecture as that, more ancient, of Ratna and the fair Padmini ; 
and a minster (mandir) dedicated to the creator (Brahma), an 
enormous and costly fabric, is yet entire. Being to ' the One,' 
and consequently containing no idol, it may thus have escaped the 
ruthless fury of the invaders. 
Lakha is a name of celebrity, as a patron of the arts 
and benefactor of his country. He excavated many reservoirs 
and lakes, raised immense ramparts to dam their waters, besides 
erecting strongholds. The riches of the mines of Jawara were 
expended to rebuild the temples and palaces levelled by Ala. A 
portion of his own palace yet exists, in the same style of archi
tecture as that, more ancient, of Ratna and the fair Padmini ; 
and a minster (mandir) dedicated to the creator (Brahma), an 
enormous and costly fabric, is yet entire. Being to ' the One,' 
and consequently containing no idol, it may thus have escaped the 
ruthless fury of the invaders.
Lakha had a numerous progeny, who have left their clans 
called after them, as the Lunawats and Dulawats, now the sturdy 
allodial proprietors of the Alpine regions bordering on Oghna, 
Panarwa, and other tracts in the Aravalli. 2 

But a circumstance 
which set aside the rights of primogeniture, and transferred the 
crown of Chitor from his eldest son, Chonda, to the younger, 
Mokal, had nearly carried it to another line. The consequences 
of making the elder branch a powerful vassal clan with claims to 
the throne, and which have been the chief cause of its subsequent 
prostration, we will reserve for another chapter [276].