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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 27: Rana Bhim=
==Rana Bhim Singh, a.d. 1778-1828==

Rana Bhim Singh (the 
reigning prince), who succeeded his brother in S. 1834 (a.d. 1778), 
was the fourth minor in the space of forty years who inherited 
Mewar ; and the half century during which he has occupied the 
tlirone has been as fruitful in disaster as any period of her history 
already recorded. He was but eight years of age on his accession, 
and remained under his mother's tutelage long after his minority 
had expired. This subjection fixed his character ; naturally de
fective in energy, and impaired by long misfortune, he continued 
to be swayed by faction and intrigue. The cause of the Pretender, 
though weakened, was yet kept alive ; but his insignificance 
eventually left him so unsupported, that his death is not even 
recorded [440]. 

==Feud of Chondawats and Saktawats==
In S. 1840 (a.d. 1784) 
the Chondawats reaped the harvest of their allegiance and made 
the power thus acquired subservient to the indulgence of ancient 
animosities against the rival clan of Saktawat. Salumbar with 
his relatives Arjun Singh 1  of Kurabar and Partap Singh  2  of 
Amet, now ruled the councils, having the Sindi mercenaries under 
their leaders Chandan and Sadik at their command. Mustering 
therefore all the strength of their kin and clans, they resolved on 
the prosecution of the feud, and invested Bhindar, the castle of 
Mohkam the chief of the Saktawats, against which they placed 
their batteries. 
Sangram Singh, a junior branch of the Saktawats, destined to 
play a conspicuous part in the future events of Mewar, was then 
rising into notice, and had just completed a feud with his rival 
the Purawat, whose abode, Lawa, 3  he had carried by escalade ; 
and now, determined to make a diversion in favour of his chief, 
he invaded the estate of Kurabar, engaged against Bhindar, and 

1  Brother of A jit, the negotiator of the treaty with the British. 
2  Chief of the Jagawat clan, also a branch of the Chondawats ; he was 
killed hi a battle with the Mahrattas. 
3  It is yet held by the successor of Sangram, whose faithful services 
merited the grant he obtained from his prince, and it was in consequence 
left unmolested in the arrangement of 1817, from the knowledge of his 
merits. 
was driving off the cattle, when Sahm Singh the heir of Kurabar 
intercepted his retreat, and an action ensued in which Salim 1  
was slain by the lance of Sangrani. The afflicted father, on 
hearing the fate of his son, ' threw the turban off his head,' 
swearing never to replace it till he had tasted revenge. Feigning 
a misunderstanding with his own party he withdrew from the 
siege, taking the road to his estate, but suddenly abandoned it 
for Sheogarh, the residence of Lalji the father of Sangram. The 
castle of Sheogarh, placed amidst the mountains and deep forests 
of Chappan, was from its difficulty of access deemed secure 
against surprise ; and here Sangram had placed the females and 
children of his family. To this point Arjun directed his revenge, 
and found Sheogarh destitute of defenders save the aged chief ; 
but though seventy summers had whitened his head, he bravely 
met the storm, and fell in opposing the foe ; when the children 
of Sangram were dragged [441] out and inhumanly butchered, 
and the widow 2  of Lalji ascended the pyre. This barbarity 
aggravated the hostility which separated the clans, and together 
with the minority of their prince and the yearly aggressions of 
the Mahrattas, accelerated the ruin of the coiuitry. But Bhim 
Singh, the Chondawat leader, was governed by insufferable 
vanity, and not only failed in respect to his prince, but offended 
the queen regent. He parcelled out the crown domain from 
Chitor to Udaipur amongst the Sindi bands, and whilst his 
sovereign was obliged to borrow money to defray his marriage at 
Idar, this ungrateful noble had the audacity to disburse upwards 
of £100,000 on the marriage of his own daughter. Such conduct 
determined the royal mother to supplant the Chondawats, and 
calling in the Saktawats to her aid, she invested with power the 
chiefs of Bhindar and Lawa. Aware, however, that their isolated 
authority was insufficient to withstand their rivals, they looked 
abroad for support, and made an overture to Zalim Singh of 
Kotah, whose political and personal resentments to the Chonda

1  The father of Rawat Jawan Singh, whom I found at Udaipur as mihtary 
minister, acting for his grand-uncle Ajit the organ of the Chondawats, whose 
head, Padam Singh, was just emerging from his minority. It was absolutely 
necessary to get to the very root of all these feuds, when as envoy and 
mediator I had to settle the disputes of half a century, and make each useful 
to detect thoir joint usurpations of the crown domain. 
2  She was the graudmother of Man Singh, a fine specimen of a Saktawat 
cavalier. 
[[File: maharaja bhim singh.png||frame|500px]]   
wats, as well as his connexion by marriage with their opponents, 
made him readily listen to it. With his friend the Mahratta, 
Lalaji Belal, he joined the Saktawats with a body of 10,000 men. 
It was determined to sacrifice the Salumbar chief, who took post 
in the ancient capital of Chitor, where the garrison was composed 
chiefly of Sindis, thus effacing his claim to his prince's gratitude, 
whom he defied, while the pretender still had a party in the other 
principal fortress, Kumbhalmer. 

==Battle of Lalsot, May 1787==

Such was the state of things, 
when the ascendancy of Mahadaji Sindhia received a signal check 
from the combined forces of Marwar and Jaipur ; and the battle 
of Lalsot, in which the Mahratta chief was completely defeated, 
was the signal for the Rajputs to resume their alienated territory.1 
Nor was the Rana backward on the occasion, when there appeared 
a momentary gleam of the active virtue of past days. Maldas 
Mehta was civil minister, with Mauji Ram as his deputy, both 
men of talent and energy. They first effected the reduction of 
Nimbahera and the smaller garrisons of Mahrattas in its vicinity, 
who from a sense of common danger assembled their detachments 
in Jawad, which was also invested. Sivaji Nana, the governor, 
capitulated, and was allowed to march out with his [442] effects. 
At the same time, the ' sons of the black cloud ' 2  assembling, 
drove the Mahrattas from Begun, Singoli, etc., and the districts 
on the plateau ; while the Chondawats redeemed their ancient 
fief of Rampura, and thus for a while the whole territory was 
recovered. Elated by success, the united chiefs advanced to 
Chardu on the banks of the Rarkia, a streamlet dividing Mewar 
from Malwa, preparatory to further operations. Had these been 
confined to the maintenance of the places they had taken, and 
which had been withheld in violation of treaties, complete success 
might have crowned their efforts ; but in including Nimbahera 
in their capture they drew upon them the energetic Ahalya Bai, 
the regent-queen of the Holkar State, who unluckily for them 
was at hand and who coalesced with Sindhia's partisans to check 

1  [Lalsot, about 40 miles south of Jaipur city. For an account of the 
battle see Compton, European Military Adventurers, 346 f.] 
2  Megh Singh was the chief of Begun, and founder of that subdivision 
of the Chondawats called after him Meghawat, and his complexion being 
very dark {kola), he was called ' Kala Megh,' the ' black cloud.' His 
descendants were very numerous and very refractory. 
this reaction of the Rajputs. Tulaji Sindhia and Sri Bhai, with 
five thousand horse, were ordered to support the discomfited 
Siva Nana, who had taken refuge in Mandasor, where he ralUed 
all the garrisons whom the Rajputs had unwisely permitted to 
capitulate. 

==Defeat of the Rajputs. Murder o$ Somji==

On Tuesday, the 
4th of Magh S. 1844, 1  the Rana's troops were surprised and 
defeated with great slaughter, the minister slain, the chiefs of 
Kanor and Sadri with many others severely wounded, and the 
latter made prisoner. 2  The newly made conquests were all 
rapidly lost, with the exception of Jawad, which was gallantly 
maintained for a month by Dip Chand, who, with his guns and 
rockets, effected a passage through the Mahrattas, and retired 
with his garrison to Mandalgarh. Thus terminated an enterprise 
which might have yielded far different results but for a misplaced 
security. All the chiefs and clans were united in this patriotic 
struggle except the Chondawats, against whom the queen-mother 
and the new minister, Somji, had much difficulty to contend for 
the establishment of the ininor's authority. At length overtures 
were made to Salumbar, when the fair Rampiyari was employed 
to conciliate the obdurate chief, who condescended to make his 
appearance at Udaipur and to pay his respects to the prince. 
He pretended to enter into the views of the minister and to 
coalesce in his plans ; but this was only a web to ensnare his 
victim, whose talent had diminished his authority, and was a 
bar to the prosecution of [443] his ambitious views. Somji was 
seated in his bureau when Arjun Singh of Kurabar and Sardar 
Singh 3  of Badesar entered, and the latter, as he demanded how 
he dared to resume his fief, plunged his dagger into the minister's 
breast. The Rana was passing the day at one of the villas in 
the valley called the Sahelia Bari, ' the garden of nymphs,' 
attended by Jeth Singh of Badnor, when the brothers 4 of the 

1  A.D. 1788. 
2  He did not recover his liberty for two years, nor till he had surrendered 
four of the best towns in his fief. 
3  Father of the present Hamir Singh, the only chief with whom I was 
compelled to use severity ; but he was incorrigible. He was celebrated 
for his raids in the troubles, and from his red whiskers bore with us the name 
more of him by and by. 
4  Sheodas and Satidas, with their cousin Jaichand. They revenged 
their brother's death by that of his murderer, and were both in turn slain. 
minister suddenly rushed into the presence to claim protection 
against the murderers. They were followed by Arjun of Kurabar, 
who had the audacity to present himself before his sovereign with 
his hands yet stained with the blood of Somji. The Rana, unable 
to pimish the insolent chief, branding him as a traitor, bade him 
begone ; when the whole of the actors in this nefarious scene, 
with their leader Salumbar, returned to Chitor. Sheodas and 
Satidas, brothers to the murdered minister, were appointed to 
succeed him, and with the Snktawats fought several actions 
against the rebels, and gained one decisive battle at Akola, in 
which Arjun of Kurabar commanded. This was soon balanced 
by the defeat of the Saktawats at Kheroda. Every triumph was 
attended with ruin to the country. The agriculturist, never 
certain of the fruits of his labour, abandoned his fields, and at 
length his country ; mechanical industry found no recompense, 
and commerce was at the mercy of unlicensed spoliation. In a 
very few years Mewar lost half her population, her lands lay 
waste, her mines were unworked, and her looms, which formerly 
supplied all around, forsaken. The prince partook of the general 
penury ; instead of protecting, he required protection ; the 
bonds which united him with his subjects were snapped, and each 
individual or petty community provided for itself that defence 
which he could not give. Hence arose a train of evils : every 
cultivator, whether fiscal or feudal, sought out a patron, and 
[444] entered into engagements as the price of protection. Hence 
every Rajput who had a horse and lance, had his clients ; and 
not a camel-load of merchandise could pass the abode of one of 
tliese cavaliers without paying fees. The effects of such disorder 
Such were these times ! The author more than once, when resuming the 
Chondawat lands, and amongst them Badesar, the fief of the son of Sardar, 
was told to recollect the fate of Somji ; the advice, however, excited only a 
smile ; he was deemed more of a Saktawat than a Chondawat, and there 
was some truth in it, for he found the good actions of the former far out
weigh the other, who made a boast and monopoly of their patriotism. It 
was a curious period in his life ; the stimulus to action was too high, too 
constant, to think of self ; and having no personal views, being influenced 
solely by one feeling, the prosperity of all, he despised the very idea of 
danger, though it was said to exist in various shapes, even in the hospitable 
plate put before him ! But he deemed none capable of such treachery, 
though once he was within a few minutes' march to the other world ; but 
the cause, if the right one, came from his own cuuinier, or rather boulanger, 
whom he discharged. 


were felt long after the cause ceased to exist, and claims difficult 
to adjust arose out of these licentious times, for the having 
prescriptive right was deemed sufficient to authorize their con
tinuance.1  Here were displayed the effects of a feudal association, 
where the powers of government were enfeebled. These feuds 
alone were sufficient to ruin the country ; but when to such 
internal ills shoals of Mahratta plunderers were added, no art is 
required to describe the consequences. 

==Aid sought from Sindhia==

The Rana and his advisers at 
length determined to call in Sindhia to expel the rebellious 
Chondawats from the ancient capital ; a step mainly prompted 
by Zalim Singh (now Regent of Kotah), who with the Rana's 
ministers was deputed to the Mahratta chieftain, then enjoying 
himself at the sacred lake of Pushkar.2  Since the overthrow of 
Lalsot he had reorganized his brigades under the celebrated De 
Boigne,3  through whose conduct he had redeemed his lost influence 
in Rajputana by the battles of Merta and Patau, in which the 
brave Rathors, after acts of the most devoted gallantry, were 
completely overthrown. Sindhia' s plans coincided entirely with 
the object of the deputation, and he readily acquiesced in the 
Rana's desire. This event introduced on the political stage 
some of the most celebrated men of that day, whose actions offer 
a fair picture of manners, and may justify our entering a little 
into details.4 

==Negotiations by Zalim Singh==
Zalim Singh had for some years 
become regent of Kotah, and though to maintain himself in 
power, and the State he controlled in an attitude to compel the 
respect of surrounding foes, was no slight task, yet he found the 
field too contracted for his ambition, and his secret views had 
long been directed to permanent influence in Mewar. His skill 
in reading character convinced him that the Rana would be no 

1  See the Essay on a Feudal System. 
2  S. 1847 (a.d. 1791). 
3 [Count Benoit de Boigne, a Savoyard, born at Chambery, 1751 : 
served under Mahadaji Sindhia, and won for him his battles of Patan and 
Merta in 1790 : defeated Holkar at Lakheri in 1793 : resigned his command 
in 1795, and left India in the next year : died June 21, 1830 (Compton, 
European Military Adventurers, 15 ff. ; Buckland, Diet, of Indian Biography, 
8.V.).] 
4  Acquired from the actors in those scenes : the prince, his ministers, 
Zahm Singh and the rival chiefs have all contributed. 
bar to his wishes, the attainment of which, by giving him the 
combined resources of Haraoti and Mewar, would bestow the 
lead in Rajasthan. The Jaipur court he disregarded, whose 
effeminate army he had himself defeated single-handed [445] 
with the Kotah troops, and the influence he established amongst 
the leading chiefs of Marwar held out no fear of counteraction 
from that quarter. The stake was high, the game sure, and 
success would have opened a field to his genius which might have 
entirely altered the fate of Hindustan ; but one false move was 
irretrievable, and instead of becoming the arbitrator of India, 
he left only the reputation of being the Nestor of Rajputana. 

The restriction of the Rana's power was the cloak under which 
he disguised all his operations, and it might have been well for 
the country had his plans succeeded to their full extent. To 
re-establish the Rana's authority, and to pay the charges of the 
reduction of Chitor, he determined that the rebels chiefly should 
furnish the means, and that from them and the fiscal lands, 
mostly in their hands, sixty-four lakhs should be levied, of which 
three-fifths should be appropriated to Sindhia, and the remainder 
to replenish the Rana's treasury. Preliminaries being thus 
arranged, Zalim was furnished with a strong corps under Ambaji 
Inglia ; while Sindhia followed, hanging on the iNIarwar frontier, 
to realize the contributions of that State. Zalim Singh and 
Ambaji moved towards Chitor, levying from the estates of those 
obnoxious to Zalim's views. Hamirgarh, whose chief, Dhiraj 
Singh, a man of talent and courage, was the principal adviser of 
Bhim Singh, the Salumbar chief, was besieged, and stood several 
assaults during six weeks' vigorous operations, when the destruc
tion of the springs of the wells from the concussion of the guns 
compelled its surrender, and the estate was sequestrated. The 
force continued their progress, and after a trifling altercation at 
Basai, a Chondawat fief, also taken, they took up a position at 
Chitor, and were soon after joined by the main body under 
Sindhia. 

==Zalim Singh and Sindhia at Udaipur==
Zalim, to gratify 
Mahadaji's vanity, who was desirous of a visit from the Rana, 
which even the Peshwa considered an honour, proceeded to 
Udaipur to effect this object ; when the Rana, placing himself 
imder his guidance, marched for this purpose, and was met at 
the Tiger Momit, within a few miles of his capital, by Sindhia, 
who received the Rana, and escorted him to the besieging army. 
But in this short interval, Ambaji, who remained with the army 
at Chitor, intrigued with the rebel Chondawat to supplant the 
predominant influence of his friend Zalim Singh, and seized the 
opportunity of his absence to counteract him, by [446] communi
cating his plans to Salvmibar ; aware that, unless he broke with 
Zalim, he could only hope to play a secondary part under him. 
Though the ulterior views of Zalim were kept to his own breast, 
they could not escape the penetration of the crafty Mahratta ; 
his very anxiety to hide them furnished Ambaji with the means 
of detection. Had Zalim possessed an equal share of meanness 
with his political antagonist, he might have extricated himself 
from the snare ; but once overreached, he preferred sinking to 
grasping at an unworthy support. Bhim Singh (Salumbar) 
privately negotiated with Ambaji the surrender of Chitor, engaging 
to himible himself before the Rana, and to pay a contribution of 
twenty lakhs, levied on the clans, provided Zalim Singh was 
ordered to retire. This suggestion, apparently founded on the 
rebellious chief's antipathy to Zalim, but in reality prompted by 
Ambaji, ensured the approbation, as it suited the views, of all 
parties, but especially Sindhia, who was desirous of repairing to 
Poona. Zahm, the sole obstacle to this arrangement, furnished 
to his enemies the means of escape from the dilemma, and lost 
the opportiuiity of realizing his long-cherished scheme of wielding 
the united resources of Mewar and Haraoti. Zalim had always 
preserved a strict amity with Ambaji wherever their interests did 
not clash, and his regard had the cement of gratitude to the 
Mahratta, whose father Trimbakji had saved Zalim's life and 
procured his liberty, when left woimded and a prisoner at the 
battle of Ujjain. On Zalim's return with the Rana, Ambaji 
touched on the terms of Bhim Suigh's surrender, hinting that 
Zalim's presence was the sole obstacle to this desirable result ; 
who, the more to mask his views, which any expressed reluctance 
to the measure might expose, went beyond probability in assevera
tions of readiness to be no bar to such arrangement, even so far 
as to affirm that, besides being tired of the business from the 
heavy expense it entailed on him, he had his prince's wish for 
his return to Kotah. 

There is one ingredient in Zalim's char
acter, which has never been totally merged in the vices acquired 
from the tortuous policy of a long life, and which in the vigour 
Of youth had full sway __namely, pride, one of the few virtues 
left to the Rajput, defrauded of many others by long oppression. 
But Zalim's pride was legitimate, being allied to honour, and it 
has retained him an evident superiority through all the mazes of 
ambition. Ambaji skilfully availed himself of this defect in his 
you tell this to me ! it might find credit with those who did not 
know you." The sarcasm only plunged him deeper into assevera
tion. " Is it then really your wish to retire ? " " Assuredly." 
" Then," retorted the crafty Ambaji, " your wish shall be gratified 
in a few minutes." Giving him no time to retract, he called for 
his horse and galloped to Sindhia's tent. Zalim relied on Sindhia 
not acceding to the proposition ; or if he did, that the Rana, over 
whom he imagined he had complete influence, would oppose it. 
His hopes of Sindhia rested on a promise privately made to leave 
troops under his authority for the restoration of order in Mewar ; 
and a yet stronger claim, the knowledge that without Zalim he 
could not realize the stipulated sums for the expulsion of the 
Chondawat from Chitor. Ambaji had foreseen and prepared a 
remedy for these difficulties, and upon their being urged offered 
hunself to advance the amount by bills on the Deccan. This 
argument was irresistible ; money, and the consequent prosecu
tion of his journey to Poona, being attained, Sindhia's engage
ments with Zalim and the Rana ceased to be a matter of import
ance. He nominated Ambaji his lieutenant, with the command 
of a large force, by whose aid he would reimburse himself for the 
sums thus advanced. Having carried his object with Sindhia, 
Ambaji proceeded direct from his tent to that of the Rana's 
ministers, Sheodas and Satidas, with whom, by the promise of 
co-operation in their views, and perfect subserviency to the 
Rana's interests, he was alike successful. Ambaji, with the 
rapidity necessary to ensure success, having in a few hours accom
plished his purpose, hastened back to Zalun, to acquamt him 
that his wish to retire had met with general acquiescence ; and 
so well did he manage, that the Rana's mace-bearer arrived at 
the same moment to announce that the khilat of leave awaited 
his acceptance. Zalim being thus outwitted, the Salumbar chief 
•descended from Chitor, and touched the Rana's feet. Sindhia 
pursued his march to the Deccan, and Ambaji was left sole 
arbiter of Mewar. The Saktawats maintained the lead at court, 
and were not backward in consigning the estates of their rivals 
to the incubus now settled on the country : while the mortified 
Zalim, on his retreat, recorded his expenses, to be produced on 
some fitting occasion. 

==Sindhia's Instructions to Ambaji==

Ambaji remained eight 
years in Mewar, reaping its revenues and amassing those hoards 
of wealth which subsequently gave him the lead in Hindustan, 
and enabled him nearly to assert his independence. Yet, although 
he accumulated [448] £2,000,000 sterling from her soil,1  exacting 
one-half of the produce of agricultural industry, the suppression 
of feuds and exterior aggressions gave to Mewar a degree of 
tranquillity and happiness to which she had long been a stranger. 

1. The entire restoration of the Rana's authority and resump
tion of the crown-lands from rebellious chiefs and mer
cenary Sindis. 
2. The expulsion of the pretender from Kumbhalmer. 
3. The recovery of Godwar from the Raja of Marwar. 
4. To settle the Bundi feud for the murder of Rana Arsi. 
A schedule (pandhri) 2  for the twenty lakhs stipulated was 
made and levied ; twelve from the Chondawat estates and eight 
from the Saktawats ; and the sum of sixty lakhs was awarded, 
besides the expense of Ambaji's army, when the other specified 
objects should be attained. Within two years the pretender 
was expelled Kumbhalmer, Jahazpur was recovered from a 
rebellious Ranawat, and the crown-lands 3  were redeemed from 
 [[File: ambaji.png||frame|500px]]   
2  [Pandhri, Pandharapatti, a tax on shops, artisans, traders, and persons 
not engaged in agriculture, levied on their persons, implements, places of 
work, or traffic ; the same as the Mahtarafa (Wilson, Glossary, s.v.).] 
3  Raepur Rajnagar from the Sindis ; Guria and Gadarraala from the 
Purawats ; Hamirgarh from Sardar Singh, and Kur j Kawaria from Salunibar. 
the nobles ; the personal domain of the Rana, agricultural and 
commercial, still realized nearly fifty lakhs of rupees. After 
these services, though Godwar was still unredeemed, the Bundi 
feud unappeased, and the lands mortgaged to the Mahrattas 
were not restored, Ambaji assumed the title of Subahdar of 
Mewar, and identified himself with the parties of the day. Yet 
so long as he personally upheld the interests of the Rana, his 
memorj^ is done justice to, notwithstanding he never conformed 
to the strict letter of his engagements. The Rana's ministers, 
fearing lest their brother's fate should be theirs in the event of the 
Chondawats again attaining power, and deeming their own and 
their sovereign's security dependent on Ambaji's presence, made 
a subsidiary engagement with him, and lands to the amount of 
75,000 rupees monthly, or eight lakhs annually, were appropriated 
for his force ; but so completely were the resources of the [449] 
country diverted from their honest use, that when, in S. 1851, a 
marriage was negotiated between the Rana's sister and the prince 
of Jaipur, the Rana was obliged to borrow £50,000 from the 
Mahratta commander to purchase the nuptial presents. The 
following year was marked by a triple event__the death of the 
queen-mother, the birth of a son and heir to the Rana, and the 
bursting of the embankment of the lake, which swept away a 
third of the city and a third of its inhabitants. Superstition 
attributed this catastrophe to the Rana's impiety, in establishing 
a new festival 1  to Gauri, the Isis of Rajasthan. 

==Anarchy in Mewar==

Ambaji, who was this year nominated 
by Sindhia his viceroy in Hindustan, left Ganesh Pant as his 
lieutenant in Mewar, with whom acted the Rana's officers, Sawai 
and Shirji Mehta ; 2  who applied themselves to make the most of 
their ephemeral power with so rapacious a spirit, that Ambaji 
was compelled to displace Ganesh Pant and appoint the celebrated 
Rae Chand. To him they would not yield, and each party formed 
a nucleus for disorder and misrule. It would be iminteresting 

1  In Bhadon, the third month of the rainy season. An account of this 
festival will hereafter be given. 
2  The first of these is now the manager of Prince Jawan Singh's estates, 
a man of no talent ; and the latter, his brother, was one of the ministers on 
my arrival at Udaipur. He was of invincible good humour, yet full of the 
spirit of intrigue, and one of the bars to returning prosperity. The cholera 
carried off this Falstaff of the court, not much to mj' sorrow. 
and nauseating to the reader to carry him through all the scenes 
of villainy which gradually desolated this country ; for whose 
spoil pilfering Mahrattas, savage Rohillas, and adventurous 
Franks were all let loose. The now humbled Chondawats, many 
of whose fiefs were confiscated, took to horse, and in conjunction 
with lawless Sindis scoured the coiuitiy. Their estates were 
attacked, Kurabar was taken, and batteries were placed against 
Salumbar, whence the Sindis fled and found refuge in Deogarh. 
In this exigence, the Chondawats determined to send an envoy 
to Ambaji, who was then engaged in the siege of Datia ; and 
Ajit Singh, since prominent in the intrigues of Mewar, was the 
organ of his clan on this occasion. For the sum of ten lakhs the 
avaricious Mahratta agreed to recall his deputy from Mewar,1  
to renounce Sheodas and the Saktawats, and lend his support to 
the Chondawats. The Salumbar chief again took the lead at 
court, and with Agarji Mehta 2  as minister, the Saktawats [450] 

1 S. 1853, A.D. 1797. 
2  This person was nominated the chief civil minister on the author's 
arrival at Udaipur, an office to which he was every way unequal. The 
affairs of Mewar had never prospered since the faithful Panchohs were 
deprived of power. Several productions of the descendants of Biharidas 
have fallen into my hands ; their quaint mode of conveying advice may 
authorize their insertion here. 
The Panchohs, who had performed so many services to the country, had 
been for some time deprived of the office of prime minister, which was dis
posed of as it suited the views of the factious nobles who held power for the 
time being ; and who bestowed it on the Mehtas, Depras, or Dhabhais. 
Amongst the papers of the Panchohs, several addressed to the Rana and to 
Agarji Mehta, the minister of the day, are valuable for the patriotic senti
ments they contain, as well as for the general light they throw upon the 
period. In S. 1853 (a.d. 1797) Amrit Rao devised a plan to remedy the 
evils that oppressed the country. He inculcated the necessity of dispensing 
with the interference of the Saktawats and Chondawats in the affairs of 
government, and strengthening the hands of the civil administration by 
admitting the foreign chieftains to the power he proposed to deprive the 
former of. He proceeds in the following quaint style : 

" Disease fastened on the country from the following causes, envy and 
party spirit. With the Turks disease was introduced ; but then the prince, 
his ministers, and chiefs, were of one mind, and medicine was ministered 
and a cure effected. During Rana Jai Singh's time the disorder returned, 
which his son Amra put down. He recovered the affairs of government 
from confusion, gave to every one his proper rank and dignity, and rendered 
all prosperous. But Maharana Sangram Singh put from under his wing the 
Chandarawat of Rampura, and thus a pinion of Mewar was broken. The 
calamity of Biharidas, whose son committed suicide, increased the diffi
were attacked, the stipulated ten lakhs raised from their estates, 
and two fiefs of note, Hintha and Semari, confiscated [451]. 
culties. The arrival of the Deccanis under Bajirao, the Jaipur affair * and 
the defeat at Rajmahall, with the heavy expenditure thereby occasioned, 
augmented the disorder. Add to this in Jagat Singh's time the enmity of 
the Dhabhais towards the Panchohs, which lowered their dignities at home 
and abroad, and siiice which time every man has thought himself equal to 
the task of government. Jagat Singh was also afflicted by the rebellious 
conduct of his son Partap, when Shyama Solanki and several other chiefs 
were treacherously cut off. Since which time the minds of the nobles have 
never been loyal, but black and not to be trusted. Again, on the accession 
of Partap, Maharaja Nathji allowed his thoughts to aspire, from which all 
Ills kin suffered. Hence animosities, doubts, and deceits, arose on all sides. 
Add to this the haughty proceeding of Amra Chand now in office ; and 
besides the strife of the Pancholis with each other, their enmity to the 
Depras. Hence parties were formed which completely destroyed the credit 
of all. Yet, notwithstanding, they abated none of their strife, which was 
the acme to the disease. The feud between Kuman Singh and the Sak
tawats for the possession of Hintha, aggravated the distresses . The treacher
ous murder of Maharaja Nathji, and the consequent disgust and retreat of 
Jaswant Singh of Deogarh ; the setting up the impostor Ratna Singh and 
Jhala Raghiideo's struggle for office, with Amra Chand's entertaining the 
mercenaries of Sind, brought it to a crisis. The neghgence arising out of 
luxury, and the intrigues of the Dhabhais of Rana Arsi, made it spread so 
as to defeat all attempt at cure. In S. 1829, on the treacherous murder 
of the Rana by the Bundi prince, and the accession of the minor Hamir, 
every one set up his own authority, so that there was not even the semblance 
of government. And now you (to the Rana), hstening to the advice of 
Bhim Singh (Salumbar), and his brother, Arjun, have taken foreigners "j" 
into pay, and thus riveted all the former errors. You and Sri Baiji Raj 
(the royal mother), putting confidence in foreigners and Deccanis, have 
rendered the disease contagious ; besides, your mind is gone. What can 
be done ? Medicine may yet be had. Let us unite and struggle to restore 
the duties of the minister and we may conquer, or at least check its progress. 
If now neglected, it will hereafter be beyond human power. The Deccanis 
are the great sore. Let us settle their accounts, and at all events get rid 
of them, or we lose the land for ever. At this time there are treaties and 
engagements in every corner. I have touched on every subject. Forgive 
whatever is improper. Let us look the future in the face, and let chiefs, 
ministers, and all unite. With the welfare of the country all will be well. 
But this is a disease which, if not now conquered, will conquer us." 

A second paper as follows : 
" The disease of the country is to be considered and treated as a remittent. 
* The struggle to place the Rana's nephew. Mad ho Singh, on the throne 
of Jaipur. 
+ The Panchoh must allude to the Mahratta subsidiary force under 
Ambaji. 

==Death o! Mahadaji Sindhia, January 12, 1794==
The death of 
Mahadaji Sindhia,1 and the accession of his nephew Daulatrao, 
his murder of the Shenvi Brahmans, and his quarrels with the 
Bais (' princesses,' wives of the deceased Sindhia), all occurred at 
this time, and materially influenced the events in Mewar. The 
power of Ainbaji as Subahdar of Hindustan was strengthened by 
the minority of Sindhia, although contested by Lakwa and the 
Bais, supported by the Khichi prince, Durjan Sal, and the Datia 
Raja, who fought and died for the princesses. Lakwa wrote to 
the Rana to throw off Ambaji's yoke and expel his lieutenant ; 
while Ambaji commanded his deputy to eject the Shenvi 2  Brah
" Amra Singh cured it and laid a complete system of government and 
justice. 
" In Sangram's time it once more gained ground. 
" In Jagat Singh's time the seed was thrown into the ground thus obtained. 
" In Partap's time it sprung up. 
" In Raj Singh's time it bore fruit. 
" In Rana Arsi's time it was ripe. 
" In Hamir's time it was distributed, and all have had a share. 
" And you, Bhini Singh (the present Rana), have eaten jjlentifully 
thereof. Its virtues and flavour you are acquainted with, and so likewise is 
the country ; and if you take no medicine you will assuredly suffer much 
pain, and both at home and abroad you will be lightly thought of. Be not 
therefore negligent, or faith and land will depart from you." 

A third paper to Agarji Mehta (then minister) : 
" If the milk is curdled it does not signify. Where there is sense butter 
may yet be extracted ; and if the butter-milk {chhackh) is thrown away it 
matters not. But if the milk be curdled and black it will require wisdom 
to restore its purity. This wisdom is now wanted. The foreigners are the 
black in the curdled milk of Mewar. At all hazards remove them. Trust 
to them and the land is lost. 
" In moonhght what occasion for a blue hght ? (Chandra jot).* 
" Who looks to the false coin of the juggler ? 
" Do not credit him who tells you he will make a pigeon out of a feather. 
“ Abroad it is said there is no wisdom left in Mewar, which is a disgrace 
to her reputation." 

1  [Mahadaji Sindhia, commonly and erroneously called Madhava Rao, 
died near Poona, January 12, 1794. See his life by H. G. Keene, 
' Rulers of India ' series ; Grant Duff, Hist, of Mahrattas, 343 ff. ; W. 
Franklin, Hist, of Shah-Aulum, 119 ff.] 
2  There are three classes of Mahratta Brahmans : Shenvi, Prabhu, 
and Mahratta. Of the first was Lakwa, Balabha Tantia, Jiwa Dada, Sivaji 
Nana, Lalaji Pandit, and Jaswant Rao Bhao, men who held the mortgaged 
* Literally, a 'moonlight.' The particular kind of firework which we 
call a ' blue hght.' 
mans, supporters of Lakwa, from all the lands in Mewar. To 
this end Ganesh Pant called on the Rana's ministers and chiefs, 
who, consulting thereon, determined to play a deep game ; and 
while they apparently acquiesced in the schemes of Ganesh, they 
wrote the Shenvis to advance from Jawad and attack him, 
promising them support. They met at Sawa ; Nana was defeated 
Avith the loss of his guns, and retired on Chitor. With a feint of 
support, the Chondawats made him again call in his garrison and 
try another battle, which he also lost and fled to Hamirgarh ; 
then, uniting with his enemies, they invested the place with 
15,000 men. Nana bravely maintained himself, making many 
sallies, in one of which both the sons of Dhiraj Singh, the chief 
of Hamirgarh, Avere slain. Shortly after. Nana was relieved by 
some battalions of the new raised regulars sent by Ambaji under 
Gulab Rao Kadam, upon which he commenced his retreat on 
Ajmer. At Musamusi he was forced to action, and success had 
nearly crowned the efforts of the clans, when a horseman, en
deavouring to secure a mare, calling out [452], " Bhagi ! bhagi ! " 
" She flies ! she flies ! " the word spread, while those who caught 
her, exclaiming " Milgayi ! milgayi ! " " She is taken ! '' but 
equally significant with ' going over ' to the enemy, caused a 
general panic, and the Chondawats, on the verge of victory, 
disgraced themselves, broke and fled. Several were slain, among 
whom was the Sindi leader Chandan. Shahpura opened its gates 
to the fugitives led by the Goliath of the host, the chief of Deo
garh.1  It was an occasion not to be lost by the bards of the 
rival clan, and many a ribald stanza records this day's disgrace. 
Ambaji' s lieutenant, however, was so roughly handled that 
several chiefs redeemed their estates, and the Rana much of the 
fisc, from Mahratta control. 

==Contest of Ambaji and Lakwa==

Mewar now became the arena 
on which the rival satraps Ambaji and Lakwa contested the 
lands of Mewar. [There are four groups of Maratlia Brahmans : Konkan
asthas, Deshasthas, Karhadas, and Kanvas. The Prabhus are not Brahmans, 
but the writer caste, like the Kayasths of Hindustan (J. Wilson, Indian 
Caste, 1877, ii. 17 flf.). The word Shenvi is a corruption of chhhjanave, 
' ninety-six,' from the supposed number of their sections.] 

1 I knew him well. He stood six feet six inches, and was. bulky in pro
portion. His limbs rivalled those of the Hercules Farnese. His father 
was nearly seven feet, and died at the early age of twenty-two, in a vain 
attempt to keep down, by regimen and medicine, his enormous bulk. 
exalted office of Sindhia's lieutenancy in Hindustan. Lakwa was 
joined by all the chiefs of Mewar, his cause being their own ; and 
Hamirgarh, still held by Nana's party, Was reinvested. Two 
thousand shot had made a practicable breach, when Bala Rao 
Inglia, Bapu Sindhia, Jaswant Rao Sindhia, a brigade under the 
European ' Mutta field,' 1  with the auxiliary battalions of Zalim 
Singh of Kotah, the whole under the command of Ambaji's son, 
arrived to relieve the lieutenant. Lakwa raised the siege, and 
took post with his allies under the walls of Chi tor ; whilst the 
besieged left the untenable Hamirgarh, and joined the relief at 
Gosunda. The rival armies were separated only by the Berach 
river, on whose banks they raised batteries and cannonaded each 
other, when a dispute arose in the victor camp regarding the pay 
of the troops, between Bala Rao (brother of Ambaji) and Nana, 
and the latter withdrew and retreated to Sanganer, Thus 
disunited, it might have been expected that these congregated 
masses would have dissolved, or fallen upon each other, when 
the Rajputs might have given the coup de grdce to the survivors ; 
but they were Mahrattas, and their politics were too complicated 
to end in simple strife : almost all the actors in these scenes lived 
to contest with, and be humiliated by, the British. 

==George Thomas==

The defection of Nana equalized the parties ; 
but Bala Rao, never partial to fighting, opportunely recollected 
a debt of gratitude to Lakwa, to whose clemency he owed his 
life when taken by storm in Gugal Chapra. He also wanted 
money [453] to pay his force, which a private overture to Lakwa 
secured. They met, and Bala Rao retired boasting of his grati
tude, to which, and the defection of Nana, soon followed by that 
of Bapu Sindhia, the salvation of Lakwa was attributed. Suther
land ^ with a brigade was detached by Ambaji to aid Nana : but 
a dispute depriving him of this reinforcement, he called in a 
partisan of more celebrity, the brave George Thomas.' Ambaji's 

1  [This is perhaps Captain Butterfield, who served in Sindhia's force under 
Colonel Sutherland. He behaved gallantly in action against Lakwa Dada, 
for which he received a flattering letter from Perron : no further mention of 
him has been traced (Compton, Military Adventurers, 344).] 
2  [For Colonel Robert Sutherland, known to natives as ' Sutlej Sahib,' 
see Compton, 410 ff.] 
3  [For the remarkable career of George Thomas, who nearly' succeeded 
in forming a kingdom of his own on the ruins of the Empire in N. India, see 
Compton, 109 f. ; W. Franklin,. Military Memoirs of Mr. G. Thomas, 1803.] 
lieutenant and Lakwa were once more equal foes, and the Rana, 
his chiefs and subjects being distracted between these conflicting 
bands, whose leaders alternately paid their respects to him, were 
glad to obtain a little repose by espousing the cause of either 
combatant, whose armies during the monsoon encamped for six 
weeks within sight of each other. 1