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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 28: Pillage in Mewar=
==Pillage in Mewar==
Durjan Sal (Khichi), with the nobles of 
Mewar, hovered round Nana's camp with five thousand horse 
to cut off his supplies ; but Thomas escorted the convoys from 
Shahpura with his regulars, and defied all their efforts. Thomas 
at length advanced his batteries against Lakwa, on whose position 
a general assault was about taking place, when a tremendous 
storm, with torrents of rain which filled the stream, cut off his 
batteries from the main body, burst the gates of Shahpura, his 
point d'appui, and laid the town in ruins. 2  Lakwa seized the 
moment, and with the Mewar chiefs stormed and carried the 
isolated batteries, capturing fifteen pieces of cannon ; and the 
Shahpura Raja, threatened at once by his brother-nobles and 
the vengeance of heaven, refused further provision to Nana, who 
was compelled to abandon his position and retreat to Sanganer. 
The discomfited lieutenant vowed vengeance against the estates 
of the Mewar chieftains, and after the rains, being reinforced by 
Ambaji, again took the field. Then commenced a scene of 
carnage, pillage, and individual defence. The whole of the 
Chondawat estates under the Aravalli range were laid waste, 
their castles assaulted, some taken and destroyed, and heavy 
sums levied on all. Thomas besieged Deogarh and Amet, and 
both fought and paid. Kasital and Lasani were captured, and 
the latter razed for its gallant resistance. Thus they were pro
ceeding in the work of destruction, when Ambaji [454] was 
dispossessed of the government of Hindustan, to which liakwa 
was nominated,' and Nana was compelled to surrender all the 
fortresses and towns he held in Mewar. 

1  Both camps were on the right bank of the Banas : Lakwa's at Amh, about 
ten miles south of Shahpura, and Nana's at Kadera, between these towns. 
2  Lakwa at this time [S. 1856, a.d. 1799] put the Shahpura Raja in pos
session of the important fortress and district of Jahazpur, which, although 
the Rana consented to it, covertly receiving from the Raja two lakhs of 
rupees, disgusted the nobles with Lakwa. 
3  Balabha Tantia and Bakhshu Narayan Rao were Sindhia's ministers at 
this period, of the same tribe (the Shenvi) as Lakwa. 

==Daulat Rao Sindhia reduces Mewar==

From this period must 
be dated the pretensions of Sindhia to consider Mewar as tributary 
to him. We have traced the rise of the Mahrattas, and the 
progress of their baneful influence in Mewar. The abstractions 
of territory from S. 1826 to 1831 [a.d. 1769-74], as pledges for 
contributions, satisfied their avarice till 1848 [a.d. 1791], when 
the Salumbar rebellion brought the great Sindhia to Chitor, 
leaving Ambaji as his lieutenant, with a subsidiary force, to 
recover the Rana's lost possessions. We have related how these 
conditions were fulfilled ; how Ambaji, inflated with the wealth 
of Mewar, assumed almost regal dignity in Hindustan, assigning 
the devoted land to be governed by his deputies, whose contest 
with other aspirants made this unhappy region the stage for 
constant struggles for supremacy ; and while the secret policy 
of Zalim Singh stimulated the Saktawats to cling to Ambaji, the 
Chondawats gave their influence and interest to his rival Lakwa. 
The unhappy Rana and the peasantry paid for this rivalry ; while 
Sindhia, whose power was now in its zenith, fastened one of his 
desultory armies on Mewar, in contravention of former treaties, 
without any definite views, or even instructions to its commander. 
It was enough that a large body should supply itself without 
assailing him for prey, and whose services were available when 
required. 

==Lakwa Dada Maratha Viceroy==
Lakwa, the new viceroy, 
marched to Mewar : Agarji Mehta was appointed minister to 
the Rana, and the Chondawats again came into power. For the 
sum of six lakhs Lakwa dispossessed the Shahpura of Jahazpur, 
for the liquidation of which thirty-six of its towns were mortgaged. 
Zalim Singh, who had long been manoeuvring to obtain Jahazpur, 
administered to the necessities of the Mahratta, paid the note of 
hand, and took possession of the city and its villages. A contri
bution of twenty-four lakhs was imposed throughout the country, 
and levied by force of arms, after which first act of the new 
viceroy he quitted Mewar for Jaipur, leaving Jaswant Rao Bhao 
as his deputy. Mauji Ram, the deputy of Agarji (the Rana's 
minister), determined to adopt the European mode of discipline, 
now become general amongst all the native powers of India. But 
when the chiefs were [455] called upon to contribute to the 
support of mercenary regulars and a field-artillery, they evinced 
their patriotism by confining this zealous minister. Satidas was 
once more placed in power, and his brother Sheodas recalled 
from Kotah, whither he had fled from the Chondawats, who now 
appropriated to themselves the most valuable portions of the 
Rana's personal doinain.
 
==Holkar defeated at Indore. Plunder of Nathdwara== 

The battle of Indore, 1  in a.d. 1802, where at least 
150,000 men assembled to dispute the claim to predatory empire, 
wrested the ascendancy from Holkar, who lost his guns, equipage, 
and capital, from which he fled to Mewar, pursued by Sindhia's 
victorious army led by Sadasheo and Bala Rao. In his flight he 
plundered Ratlam, and passing Bhindar, the castle of the Sakta
wat chief, he demanded a contribution, from which and his 
meditated visit to Udaipur, the Rana and his vassal were saved 
by the activity of the purstiit. Failing in these objects, Holkar 
retreated on Nathdwara, the celebrated shrine of the Hindu 
Apollo. 2 It was here this active soldier first showed symptoms 
of mental derangement. He upbraided Krishna, while prostrate 
before his image, for the loss of his victory ; and levied three 
lakhs of rupees on the priests and inhabitants, several of whom 
he carried to his camp as hostages for the payment. The portal 
(dwara) of the god (Nath) proving no bar either to Turk or equally 
impious Mahratta, Damodarji, the high priest, removed the god 
of Vraj from his pedestal and sent him with his establishment to 
Udaipur for protection. The Chauhan chief of Kotharia (one of 
the sixteen nobles), in whose estate was the sacred fane, undertook 
the duty, and with twenty horsemen, his vassals, escorted the 
shepherd god by intricate passes to the capital. On his return 
he was intercepted by a band of Holkar's troops, who insultingly 
desired the surrender of their horses. But the descendant of the 
illustrious Prithiraj preferred death to dishonour : dismounting, 
he hamstrung his steed, commanding his vassals to follow his 
example ; and sword in hand courted his fate in the unequal 
conflict, in which he fell, with most of his gallant retainers. 
There are many such isolated exploits in the records of this 
eventful period, of which the Chauhans of Kotharia had their full 
share. Spoil, from whatever source, being welcome to these depre
dators, Nathdwara 3 remained long abandoned ; and Apollo, after 

1 [October U, 1801 (Grant Duff 555).]  
2  [Krishna.]
3  Five-and-twenty [about thirty] miles north of Udaipur. On this sub
ject we shall have much to say hereafter. 
six months' residence at Udaipur, finding [456] insufiRcient protec
tion, took another flight to the mountains of Ghasyar, where the 
high priest threw up fortifications for his defence ; and spiritual 
thunders being disregarded, the pontiff henceforth buckled on 
the armour of flesh, and at the head of four hundred cavaliers 
with lance and shield, visited the minor shrines in his extensive 
diocese.

==The Inroad of Holkar==

To return to Holkar. He pursued his 
route by Banera and Shahpura, levying from both, to Ajmer, 
where he distributed a portion of the offerings of the followers of 
Krishna amongst the priests of Muham.mad at the mosque of 
Khwaja Pir. Thence he proceeded towards Jaipur, Sindhia's 
leaders on reaching Mewar renounced the pursuit, and Udaipur 
was cursed with their presence, when three lakhs of rupees were 
extorted from the unfortunate Rana, raised by the sale of house
hold effects and the jewels of the females of his family. Jaswant 
Rao Bhao, the Subahdar of Mewar, had prepared another schedule 
(pandhri), which he left with Tantia, his deputy, to realize. Then 
the attack of the chieftain's 
estates, distraining of the husbandman, seizure of his cattle, and 
his captivity for ransom, or his exile.

==Mewar Quarrels==

The celebrated Lakwa, disgraced by his 
prince, died at this time 1  in sanctuary at Salumbar ; and Bala 
Rao, brother to Ambaji, returned, and was joined by the Sakta
wats and the minister Satidas, who expelled the Chondawats for 
their control over the prince. Zalim Singh, in furtherance of his 
schemes and through hatred of the Chondawats, united himself 
to this faction, and Devi Chand, minister to the Rana, set up 
by the Chondawats, was made prisoner. Bala Rao levied and 
destroyed their estates with unexampled ferocity, which produced 
a bold attempt at deliverance. The Chondawat leaders assembled 
at the Chaugan (the Champ de Mars) to consult on their safety. 
The insolent Mahratta had preceded them to the palace, demand
ing the surrender of the minister's deputy, Mauji Ram. The 
the Mahratta importuned, 
threatened, and at length commanded his troops to advance to 
the palace, when the intrepid minister pinioned the audacious 
plunderers, and secured his adherents (including their old enemy. 
Nana Ganesh), Janialkar, and Uda Kunwar. The latter, a 
1 S. 1859 (a.d. 1803). 
notorious villain, had an elephant's chain put round his neck, 
while Bala Rao was confined in a bath. The [457] leaders thus 
arrested, the Chondawats sallied forth and attacked their camp 
in the valley, which surrendered ; though the regulars under 
Hearsey 1  retreated in a hollow square, and reached Gadarmala in 
safety. Zalim Singh determined to liberate his friend Bala Rao 
from peril ; and aided by the Saktawats under the chiefs of 
Bhindar and Lawa, advanced to the Chaija Pass, one of the 
defiles leading to the capital. Had the Rana put these chiefs to 
instant death, he would have been justified, although he would 
have incurred the resentment of the whole Mahratta nation. 
Instead of this, he put himself at the head of a motley levy of 
six thousand Sindis, Arabs, and Gosains, with the brave Jai 
Singh and a band of his gallant Khichis, ever ready to poise the 
lance against a Mahratta. They defended the pass for five days 
against a powerful artillery. At length the Rana was compelled 
to liberate Bala Rao, and Zalim Singh obtained by this inter
ference possession of the fortress and entire district of Jahazpur. 
A schedule of war contribution, the usual finale to these events, 
followed Bala's liberation, and no means were left untried to 
realize the exaction, before Holkar, then approaching, could 
contest the spoil. 

==Holkar plunders Udaipur==

This chief, having recruited his 
shattered forces, again left the south. 2  Bhindar felt his resent
ment for non-compliance with his demands on his retreat after the 
battle of Indore ; the town was nearly destroyed, but spared for two 
lakhs of rupees, for the payment of which villages were assigned. 
Thence he repaired to Udaipur, being met by Ajit Singh, the 
Rana's ambassador, when the enormous sum of forty lakhs, or 
£500,000, was demanded from the country, of which one-third 
was commanded to be instantly forthcoming. The palace was 
denuded of everything which could be converted into gold ; the 
females were deprived of every article of luxury and comfort : by 
which, with contributions levied on the city, twelve lakhs were 

1  [Hyder Young Hearsey (1782-3-1840), son of Captain Harry Thomas 
Hearsey by a Jat lady, served Sindhia under Perron, and also George Thomas, 
joined Lord Lake at Dig in 1804 : taken prisoner in the Nepal war of 1815 : . 
present at the siege of Bharatpur : died near Budaun (Buckland, Diet. 
Indian Biography, s.v.).] 
2 In S. 1860 (A.D. 1804). 
obtained ; while hostages from the household of the Rana and 
chief citizens were delivered as security for the remainder, and 
immured in the Mahratta camp. Holkar then visited the Rana. 
Lawa and Radnor were attacked, taken, and restored on large 
payments. Deogarh alone was mulcted four and a half lakhs. 
Having devastated Mewar during eight months, Holkar [458] 
marched to Hindustan, 1  Ajit Singh accompanying him as the 
Rana's representative ; while Bala Ram Seth was left to levy 
the balance of the forty lakhs. Holkar had reached Shahpura 
when Sindhia entered Mewar, and their camps formed a junction 
to allow the leaders to organize their mutual plans of hostility 
to the British Government. These chieftains, in their efforts to 
cope with the British power, had been completely humiliated, 
and their resources broken. But Rajasthan was made to pay 
the penalty of British success, which riveted her chains, and it 
would be but honest, now we have the power, to diminish that 
penalty. 

==Sindhia and Holkar in Mewar==

The rainy season of a.d. 1805 
found Sindhia and Holkar encamped in the plains of Badnor, 
desirous, but afraid, to seek revenge in the renewal of war. De
prived of all power in Hindustan, and of the choicest territory 
north and south of the Nerbudda, with numerous discontented 
armies now let loose on these devoted countries, their passions 
inflamed by defeat, and blind to every sentiment of humanity, 
they had no alternative to pacify the soldiery and replenish their 
own ruined resources but indiscriminate pillage. It would 
require a pen powerful as the pencil of Salvator Rosa to paint 
the horrors which filled up the succeeding ten years, to which 
the author was an eye-witness, destined to follow in the train of 
rapine, and to view in the traces of Mahratta camps 2  the desola

1  At this juncture an officer of Holkar's, Harnatli Chela, on passing 
through Bansain, had some camels carried off by the Bhils of the Satola 
estate. Harnath summoned Gulab Singh Chondawat, who came with eight 
of his relatives, when he was told he should be detained till the cattle were 
restored ; and in the morning, as the Mahratta momted his elephant, he 
commanded the Raghaut chieftain to be seized. Gulab drew his sword 
and made at Harnath, but his sword broke in the howda, when he plunged 
his dagger into the elephant ; but at length he and all his relations, who 
nobly pUed their swords on the Mahrattas, were cut to pieces. 
2  [For a graphic account of these camps see T. D. Broughton, Letters 
written in a Mahratta Camp during the year 1809, ed. 1892.] 
tion and political annihilation of all the central States of India,1 
several of which aided the British in their early struggle for 
dominion, but were now allowed to fall without a helping hand, 
the scapegoats of our successes. Peace between the Mahrattas 
and British was, however, doubtful, as Sindhia made the restora
tion of the rich provinces of Gohad and Gwalior a sine qua non : 
and unhappily for their legitimate ruler, who [459] had been 
inducted into the seat of his forefathers, a Governor- General 
(Lord Cornwallis) of ancient renown, but in the decline of life, 
with views totally unsuited to the times, abandoned our allies, 
and renounced all for peace, sending an ambassador "2  to Sindhia 
to reunite the bonds of ' perpetual friendship.' 
==Holkar saves Mewar from Sindhia ==

The Mahratta leaders 
were anxious, if the war should be renewed, to shelter their 
families and valuables in the strongholds of Mewar, and their 
respective camps became the rendezvous of the rival factions. 
Sardar Singh, the organ of the Chondawats, represented the 
Rana at Sindhia's court, at the head of whose councils Ambaji 
had just been placed.3  His rancour to the Rana was implacable, 
from the support given in self-defence to his political antagonist, 
Lakwa, and he agitated the partition of Mewar amongst the great 
Mahratta leaders. But whilst his baneful influence was pre
paring this result, the credit of Sangram Saktawat with Holkar 
counteracted it. It would be unfair and ungallant not to record 
that a fair suitor, the Baiza Bai,4  Sindhia's wife, powerfully 

1  The Rana of Gohad and GwaUor, the Khichi chiefs of Raghugarh and 
Bahadurgarh, and the Nawab of Bhopal, made common cause with us in 
Warren Hastings' time. The first throe possess not a shadow of independ
ence ; the last fortunately formed a Unk in our own pohcy, and Lord 
Hastings, in 1818, repaid with liberal interest the services rendered to the 
government of Warren Hastings in 1782. It was in his power, with equal 
facility, to have rescued all the other States, and to have claimed the same 
measure of gratitude which Bhopal is proud to avow. But there was a 
fatahty in the desire to maintain terms with Sindhia, whose treachery to 
our power was overlooked. 
2  The author, then a subaltern, was attached to the suite of the ambas
sador, Mr. Graeme Mercer. He left the subsidiary force at Gwalior in 
December 1805, and the embassy reached Sindhia's court in the spring of 
1800, then encamped amidst the ruins of Mewar. 
3 The ministers of Sindhia Avere Ambaji, Bapu Chitnavis, Madhuba 
Huzuria, ancfAnaji Bhaskar. 
4  [Baiza Bai, widow of Daulat Rao Sindhia, who died in 1827, was an 
contributed to the Rana's preservation on this occasion. This 
lady, the daughter of the notorious Sarji Rao, had unboxuided 
power over Sindhia. Her sympathies were awakened on behalf 
of the supreme head of the Rajput nation, of which blood she 
had to boast, though she was now connected with the Mahrattas. 
Even the hostile clans stifled their animosities on this occasion, 
and Sardar Singh Chondawat left Sindhia's camp to join his rival 
Sangram with Holkar, and aided by the upright Kishandas 
Pancholi, united in their remonstrances, asking Holkar if he had 
given his consent to sell Mewar to Ambaji. Touched by the 
picture of the Rana's and their country's distresses, Holkar swore 
it should not be ; advised unity amongst themselves, and caused 
the representatives of the rival clans ' to eat opiiun together.' 
Nor did he stop here, but with the envoys repaired to Sindhia's 
tents, descanted on the Rana's high descent, ' the master of their 
master's master,' 1  urging that it did not become them to over
whelm him, and that they should even renounce the mortgaged 
lands which their fathers had too long unjustly held, himself 
setting the example by the restitution of [460] Nimbahera. To 
strengthen his argument, he expatiated with Sindhia on the 
policy of conciliating the Rana, whose strongholds might be 
available in the event of a renewal of hostilities with the British. 
Sindhia appeared a convert to his views, and retained the envoys 
in his camp. The Mahratta camps were twenty miles apart, 
and incessant torrents of rain had for some days prevented all 
intercourse. In this interim, Holkar received intelligence that 
Bhairon Bakhsh, as envoy from the Rana, was in Lord Lake's 
camp negotiating for the aid of British troops, then at Touk, to 
drive the Mahrattas from Mewar. The incensed Holkar sent 
for the Rana's ambassadors, and assailed them with a torrent of 
reproach ; accusing them of treachery, he threw the newspaper 
containing the information at Kishandas, asking if that were 
the way in which the Mewaris kept faith with him ? "I cared 
not to break with Sindhia in support of your master, and while 
combating the Farangis (Franks), when all the Hindus should be 
unscrupulous, designing woman, whose intrigues at Gwalior forced her to 
take refuge in British territory. She returned after an interval and lived 
at Gwalior until her death in 1862 {IGI, xii. 424).] 

1  That is, chief of the race from which issued the Satara sovereigns, 
whose minister, the Peshwa, accounted Sindhia and Holkar his feudatories. 
as brothers, your sovereign the Rana, who boasts of not acknow
ledging the supremacy of Delhi, is the first to enter into arms 
with them. Was it for this I prevented Ambaji being fastened 
on you ? " Kishandas here interrupted and attempted to 
pacify him, when Alikar Tantia, Holkar's minister, stopped hina 
short, observing to his prince, " You see the faith of these Ran
gras ; 1  they would disimite you and Smdhia, and ruin both. 
Shake them off : be reconciled to Sindhia, dismiss Sarji Rao, and 
let Ambaji be Subahdar of Mewar, or I will leave you and take 
Sindhia into Malwa." The other councillors, with the exception 
of Bhao Bhaskar, seconded this advice : Sarji Rao was dismissed ; 
and Holkar proceeded northward, where he was encoiuitered and 
pursued to the Panjab by the British under the intrepid and 
enterprising Lake, who dictated terms to the Mahratta at the 
altars of Alexander.2  

==Holkar protects Mewar Interests==

Holkar had the generosity 
to stipulate, before his departure from Mewar, for the security of 
the Rana and his country, telling Sindhia he should hold him 
personally amenable to him if Ambaji were permitted to violate 
his guarantee. But in his misfortunes this threat was disregarded, 
and a contribution of sixteen lakhs was levied immediately on 
Mewar ; Sadasheo Rao, with Baptiste's ' brigade, was detached 
from the camp in June 1806, for the double purpose of levying it, 
and driving from [461] Udaipur a detachment of the Jaipur 
prince's troops, bringing proposals and preliminary presents for 
this prince's marriage with the Rana's daughter. 
It would be imagined that 
the miseries of Rana Bhim were not susceptible of aggravation, 
and that fortune had done her worst to humble him ; but his 

1  Rangra is an epithet appKed to the Rajputs, implying turbulent, from 
rana, ' strife.' [Rangar is the title of a body of turbulent, predatory Muham
madans, who claim Rajput descent, occupying parts of the E. Panjab and 
W. districts of the Ganges-Jumna Duab. The derivation suggested is very 
doubtful (Crooke, Tribes and Castes, N.W.P. and Oudh, v. 227 £f.).] 
2 [In October 1805 (Grant Duff 601).] 
3  [Jean Baptiste de la Fontaine Filoze (1775-1840) assisted in the cam
paign against Thomas in 1801. In the war with the English, part of his 
brigade under Dupont was defeated at Assaye. He was afterwards ill
treated by Sindhia, but was reinstated. Some of his descendants are still 
in Sindhia's service (Compton, European Military Adveriturers, 352 ff. ; 
Sleeman, Rambles, 115, note). He is frequently mentioned in Broughton, 
Letters written in a Mahratta Camp.] 
pride as a sovereign and his feelings as a parent were destined to 
be yet more deeply wounded. The Jaipur cortege had encamped 
near the capital, to the number of three thousand men, while the 
Rana's acknowledgments of acceptance were dispatched, and 
had reached Shahpura. But Raja Man of Marwar also advanced 
pretensions, founded on the princess having been actually be
trothed to his predecessor ; and urging that the throne of Marwar, 
and not the individual occupant, was the object, he vowed 
resentment and opposition if his claims were disregarded. These 
were suggested, it is said, by his nobles to cloak their own views ; 
and promoted by the Chondawats (then ift favour with the Rana), 
whose organ, Ajit, was bribed to further them, contrary to the 
decided wishes of their prince. 

Krislma Kimwari (the Virgin Krisluia) was the name of the 
lovely object, the rivalry for whose hand assembled under the 
banners of her suitors (Jagat Singh of Jaipur and Raja Man of 
Marwar), not only their native chivalry, but all the predatory 
powers of India ; and who, like Helen of old, involved in destruc
tion her own and the rival houses. Sindhia having been denied 
a pecuniary demand by Jaipur, not only opposed the nuptials, 
but aided the claims of Raja Man, by demanding of the Rana the 
dismissal of the Jaipur embassy : which being refused, he ad
vanced his brigades and batteries, and after a fruitless resistance, 
in which the Jaipur troops joined, forced the pass, threw a corps 
of eight thousand men into the valley, and following in person, 
encamped within cannon-range of the city. The Rana had now 
no alternative but to dismiss the nuptial cortege, and agree to 
whatever was demanded. Sindhia remained a month in the 
valley, during which an interview took place between him and 
the Rana at the shrine of Eklinga [462].1  

1 To increase his importance, Sindhia invited the British envoy and suite 
to be present on the occasion, when the princely demeanour of the Rana 
and his sons was advantageously contrasted with that of the Mahratta and 
his suite. It was in this visit that the regal abode of this ancient race, its 
isles and palaces, acted with irresistible force on the cupidity of this scion 
of the plough, who aspired to, yet dared not seat himself in, ' the halls of the 
Caesars.' It was even surmised that his hostihty to Jaipur was not so 
much from the refused war-contribution, as from a mortifying negative to 
an audacious desire to obtain the hand of this princess himself. The impres
sion made on the author upon this occasion by the miseries and noble appear
ance of ' this descendant of a hundred kings,' was never allowed to weaken. 

==Battle of Parbatsar. Defeat of the Marwar Forces==

The heralds 
of Hymen bemg thus rudely repulsed and its symbols intercepted, 
the Jaipur prince prepared to avenge his insulted pride and 
disappointed hopes, and accordingly arrayed a force such as had " 
not assembled since the empire was in its glory. Raja Man 
eagerly took up the gauntlet of his rival, and headed ' the swords 
of Maru.' But dissension prevailed in Marwar, where rival 
claimants for the throne had divided the loyalty of the clans, 
introducing there also the influence of the Mahrattas. Raja 
Man, who had acquired the sceptre by party aid; was obliged to 
maintain himself by it, and to pursue the demoralizing policy of 
the period by ranging his vassals against each other. These 
nuptials gave the malcontents an opportunity to display their 
long-curbed resentments, and following the example of Mewar, 
they set up a pretender, whose interests were eagerly espoused, 
and whose standard was erected in the array of Jaipur ; the 
prince at the head of 120,000 men advancing against his rival, 
who with less than half the number met him at Parbatsar, on 
their mutual frontier. The action was short, for while a heavy 
cannonade opened on either side, the majority of the Marwar 
nobles went over to the pretender. Raja Man turned his poniard 
against himself : but some chiefs yet faithful to him wrested the 
weapon from his hand, and conveyed him from the field. He 
was pursued to his capital, which was invested, besieged, and 
gallantly defended during six months. The town was at length 
taken and plundered, but the castle of Jodha ' laughed a siege 
to scorn ' ; in time with the aid of finesse, the mighty host of 
Jaipur, which had consumed the forage of these arid plains for 
twenty miles around, began to crumble away ; intrigue spread 
through every rank, and the siege ended in pusillanimity and 
flight. 

The Xerxes of Rajwara, the effeminate Kachhwaha, 
alarmed at length for his personal safety, sent on the spoUs of 
but kindled an enthusiastic desire for the restoration of his fallen condition, 
which stimulated his perseverance to obtain that knowledge by which alone 
he might be enabled to benefit him. Then a young Sub., his hopes of success 
were more sanguiiae than wise ; but he trusted to the rapid march of events, 
and the discordant elements by which he was surrounded, to elfect the 
but after 
and he had the gratification 
of being instrumental in snatching the family from destruction, aiad subse
quently of raising the country to comparative prosperity. 
Parbatsar and Jodhpur to his capital ; but the brave nobles of 
Marwar, drawing the line between loyalty and patriotism, and 
determined that no trophy of Rathor degradation should be 
conveyed by the Kachhwahas from Marwar, attacked the cortege 
and redeemed the symbols of their disgrace. The colossal array 
of the invader was soon dismeinbered, and the ' lion of the 
world ' (Jagat Singh), humbled and crestfallen [463], skulked 
from the desert retreat of his rival, indebted to a partisan corps 
for safety and convoy to his capital, around whose walls the 
wretched remnants of this ill-starred confederacy long lagged 
in expectation of their pay, while the bones of their horses and 
the ashes of their riders whitened the plain, and rendered it a 
Golgotha.1 

==Nawab Amir Khan==

By the aid of one of the most notorious 
villains India ever produced, the Nawab Amir Khan, 2  the pre
tender's party was treacherously annihilated. This man with 
his brigade of artUlery and horse was amongst the most efficient 
of the foes of Raja Man ; but the auri sacra fames not only made 
him desert the side on which he came for that of the Raja, but 
for a specific sum offer to rid him of the pretender and all his 
associates. Like Judas, he kissed whom he betrayed, took 
service with the pretender, and at the shrine of a saint of his own 
faith exchanged turbans with their leaders ; and while the too 
credulous Rajput chieftains celebrated this acquisition to their 
party in the very sanctuary of hospitality, crowned by the dance 
and the song, the tents were cut down, and the victims thus 
enveloped, slaughtered in the midst of festivity by showers of 
grape. 

Thus finished the under-plot ; but another and more noble 
victim was demanded before discomfited ambition could repose, 
or the curtain drop on this eventful drama. Neither party 
1 I witnessed the commencement and the end of this drama, and have 
conversed with actors in all the intermediate scenes. In June 1806 the 
passes of Udaipur were forced ; and in January 1808, when I passed through 
Jaipur in a solitary ramble, the fragments of this contest were scattered over 
its sandy plabas. 
2  [Amir Khan, ally of the Pindaris and ancestor of the present Nawabs 
of Tonk. A treaty between him and the British was signed on December 
19, 1817, by which his State was recognized. He died in 1834. See his 
Life by Basawan Lai, translated by Thoby Prinsep ; Malcolm, Memoirs of 
Central India, 2nd ed. ii. 325 ff.J 
would relinquish his claim to the fair object of the war ; and the 
torch of discord could be extinguished only in her blood. To 
the same ferocious Khan is attributed the tmhallowed suggestion, 
as well as its compulsory execution. The scene was now changed 
from the desert castle of Jodha to the smiling valley of Udaipur, 
soon to be filled with funereal lamentation. 

==The Tragedy of Krishna Kunwari==

Krishna Kimwari Bai, the 
' Virgin Princess Krishna,' was in her sixteenth year : her 
mother was of the Chawara race, the ancient kings of Anhilwara. 
Sprung froin the noblest blood of Hind, she added beauty of face 
and person to an engaging demeanour, and was justly proclaimed 
the ' flower of Rajasthan.' When the Roman father pierced 
the bosom of the dishonoured Virginia, appeased virtue applauded 
the deed. When Iphigenia was led to the sacrificial altar, the 
salvation of her coimtry yielded a noble consolation. The votive 
victim of Jephthah's success had [464] the triumph of a father's 
fame to sustain her resignation, and in the meeloiess of her 
sufferings we have the best parallel to the sacrifice of the lovely 
Krislma : though years have passed since the barbarous inunola
tion, it is never related but with a faltering tongue and moistened 
eyes, ' albeit imused to the melting mood.' 

The rapacious and bloodthirsty Pathan, covered with infamy, 
repaired to Udaipur, where he was joined by the phant and subtle 
Ajit. Meek in his demeanour, unostentatious in his habits ; 
religion, which he 
followed with the zeal of an ascetic, if it did not serve as a cloak, 
was at least no hindrance to an immeasurable ambition, in the 
attamment of which he woilld have sacrificed all but himself. 
When the Pathan revealed his design, that either the princess 
should wed Raja Man, or by her death seal the peace of Rajwara, 
whatever arguments were used to point the alternative, the Rana 
was made to see no choice between consigning his beloved child 
to the Rathor prince, or witnessing the effects of a m.ore extended 
dishonour from the vengeance of the Pathan, and the storm of 
his palace by his licentious adherents— the fiat passed that 
Krishna Kunwari should die. 

But the deed was left for women to accomplish 
the hand of 
man refused it. The Rawala 1  of an Eastern prince is a world 
within itself ; it is the labyrinth containing the strings that move 
1  Harem. 
the puppets which alarm mankind. Here intrigue sits entlironed, 
and hence its influence radiates to the world, always at a loss to 
trace effects to their causes. Maharaja Daulat Singh,"1  descended 
four generations ago from one common ancestor with the Rana, 
was first sounded ' to save the honour of Udaipur ' ; but, 
horror-struck, he exclaimed, " Accursed the tongue that com
mands it ! Dust on my allegiance, if thus to be preserved ! " 
The Maharaja Jawandas, a natural brother, was then called 
upon ; the dire necessity was explained, and it was urged that no 
common hand could be armed for the purpose. He accepted the 
poniard, but when in youthful loveliness Krislina appeared 
before him, the dagger fell from his hand, and he returned more 
wretched than the victim. The fatal purpose thus revealed, 
the shrieks of the frantic inother reverberated through the palace, 
as she implored mercy, or execrated the murderers of her child, 
who alone was resigned to her fate. But death was arrested, not 
averted [465]. To use the phrase of the narrator, " she was 
and prepared by 
female hands ! As the messenger presented it in the name of 
her father, she bowed and drank it, sending up a prayer for his 
life and prosperity. The raving mother poured imprecations on 
his head, while the lovely victim, who shed not a tear, thus 
endeavoured to console her : " Why afllict yourself, my mother, 
at this shortening of the sorrows of life ? I fear not to die ! Am 
I not your daughter ? Wliy should I fear death ? We are 
marked out for sacrifice 2  from our birth ; we scarcely enter the 
world but to be sent out again ; let me thank my father that I 
have lived so long ! " 3  Thus she conversed till the nauseating 
a plain honest man. 
2 Alluding to the custom of infanticide 
here, very rare ; indeed, almost
unknown.  
3  With my mind engrossed with the scenes in which I had passed the 
better part of my life, I went two months after my return from Rajputana, 
in 1823, to York Cathedral, to attend the memorable festival of that year. 
The sublime recitations of Handel in ' Jephtha's Vow,' the sonorous woe of 
Sapio's ' Deeper and deeper still,' powei-fully recalled the sad exit of the 
Rajputni ; and the representation shortly after of Racine's tragedy of 
' Iphigcnie,' with Talma as Achille, Duchesnois as Clytemnestre, and a 
very interesting personation of the victim daughter of Agamemnon, again 
served to waken the remembrance of this sacrifice. The following passage, 
embodying not only the sentiments, but couched in the precise language in 
proving that human 
draught refused to assimilate with her blood. Again the bitter 
potion was prepared. She drained it off, and again it was re
jected ; but, as if to try the extreme of human fortitude, a third 
was administered ; and, for the third time, Nature refused to 
aid the horrid purpose. It seemed as if the fabled charm, which 
guarded the life of the founder of her race,1  was inherited by the 
Virgin Krishna. But the blood-hounds, the Pathan and Ajit, 
were impatient till their victim was at rest ; and cruelty, as if 
gathering strength from defeat, made another and a fatal attempt. 
A powerful opiate was presented 
the kusumbha draught.'' 2  She 
received it with a smile, wished the scene over, and drank it. The 
desires [466] of barbarity were accomplished. ' She slept ! ' 3  a 
sleep from which she never awoke. 

The wretched mother did not long survive her child ; nature 
was exhausted in the ravings of despair ; she refused food ; and 
her remains in a few days followed those of her daughter to the 
funeral pyre. 
Even the ferocious Ivlian, when the instrument of his infamy, 
Ajit, reported the issue, received him with contempt, and spurned 
him from his presence, tauntingly asking " if this were the boasted 
Rajput valour ? " But the wily traitor had to encounter lan
guage far more bitter from his political adversary, whom he 
detested. Sangram Saktawat reached the capital only four days 
after Ae catastrophe— a man in every respect the reverse of 
Ajit ; audaciously brave, he neither feared the frown of his 

[[File: monprice.png||frame|500px]]   
1  Bappa Rawal. 
2  The kusumbha draught is made of flowers and herbs of a cooling quality ; 
into this an opiate was introduced. 
3 The simxjle but powerful expression of the narrator. 
sovereign nor the sword of his enemy. Without introduction he 
rushed into the presence, where he found seated the traitor Ajit. 
" Oh dastard ! who hast thrown dust on the Sesodia race, whose 
blood which has flowed in purity through a hundred ages has now 
been defiled ! this sin will check its course for ever ; a blot so 
foul in our annals that no Sesodia 1  will ever again hold up his 
head ! A sin to which no punishment were equal. But the end 
of our race is approaching ! The line of Bappa Rawal is at an 
end ! Heaven has ordained this, a signal of our destruction." 
The Rana hid his face with his hands, when turning to Ajit, he 
exclaimed, " Thou stain on the Sesodia race, thou impure of 
Rajput blood, dust be on thy head as thou hast covered us all 
with shame. May you die childless, and your name die with 
you ! 2  Why this indecent haste ? Had the Pathan stormed 
the city ? Had he attempted to violate the sanctity of the 
Rawala ? And though he had, could you not die as Rajputs, 
like your ancestors ? Was it thus they gained a name ? Was 
it thus our race became renowned __thus  they opposed the might 
of kings ? Have you forgotten the Sakhas of Chitor ? But not Rajputs ? Had the honour of your 
females been endangered, had you sacrificed them all and rushed 
sword in hand on the enemy, your name would have lived, and 
the Almighty would have secured the seed of Bappa Rawal. But 
to owe preservation [467] to this unhallowed deed ! Tou did 
not even await the threatened danger. Fear seems to have 
deprived you of every faculty, or you might have spared the 
blood of Sriji, 3  and if you did not scorn to owe your safety to 
deception, might have substituted some less noble victim ! But 
the end of our race approaches 1 " 

==Fate of the Murderers==

The traitor to manhood, his sovereign, 
and lunuanity, durst not reply. The brave Sangram is now dead, 
but the prophetic anathema has been fulfilled. Of ninety-five 
children, sons and daughters, but one son (the brother of Krishna) 4 
is left to the Rana ; and though his two remaining daughters 
have been recently married to the princes of Jaisalmer and 
Bikaner, the Salic law, which is in full force in these States, 
1  The tribe of the Rana. 
2 That is, without adoption even to perpetuate it. 
3  A respectful epithet to the prince __sire.
4  By the same mother. 
precludes all honour through female descent. His hopes rest 
solely on the prince, Javana Singh 1  and though in the flower of 
yoxith and health, the marriage bed (albeit boasting no less than 
four yoimg princesses) has been blessed with no progeny.2  

The elder brother of Javana 3 died two years ago. Had he 
lived he would have been Amra the Third. With regard to A jit, 
the curse has been fully accomplished. Scarcely a month after, 
his wife and two sons were numbered with the dead ; and the 
hoary traitor has since been wandering from shrine to shrine, 
performing penance and alms in expiation of his sins, yet unable 
to fling from him ambition ; and with his beads in one hand, 
Rama ! Rama ! ever on his tongue, and subdued passion in his 
looks, his heart is deceitful as ever. Enough of him : let us 
exclaim with Sangram, " Dust on his head," 4  which all the waters 
of the Ganges could not purify from the blood of the virgin 
Krishna, but 
rather would tlic multitudinous sea incarnadine [468]. 

==Amir Khan rewarded by the British==

His coadjutor. Amir 
Khan, is now linked by treaties " in amity and unity of interests " 
1  He was nearly carried off by that awful scourge, the cholera, and, 
singular to remark, was the first person attacked at Udaipur. I remained 
by his bedside during the progress of this terrible visitation, and never shall 
I forget his grateful exclamation of surprise, when after a salutary sleep he 
opened his eyes to health. Shirji Mehta, his chief adviser and manager of 
his estates, merry as ever, though the heir of Mewar was given over, was 
was dead and his ashes 
blanching on the sands of the streandet of Ar within twelve hours ! Jovial 
and good-humoured as he was, " we could have better spared a better man." 
He was an adept in intrigue ; of Ambaji's school ; and till death shall ex
tinguish the whole of this, and better morals are born, the country will but 
slowly improve. [Maharana Jawan Singh (1828-38) succeeded on the death 
of his father, Bhim Singh, on March 31, 1828. He gave himself up to de
bauchery, and died without issue on August 30, 1838, being succeeded by 
his adopted son, Sardar Singh.] 
2  Since this work has gone to press, the author has been rejoiced to find 
that an heir has been born from the last marriage by a princess of Riwa of 
the Baghela tribe. 
3  See genealogical descendants of Rana Jagat Singh. Appendix, No. 
VIII. 
4  This was written at Udaipur in 1820. This old intriguer then attempted 
to renew the past, as the organ of the Chondawats, but his scheme ended in 
exile to the sacred city of Benares ; and there he may now be seen with his 
rosary on the consecrated ghat of the Ganges. 
with the sovereigns of India ; and though he has carried mourning 
into every house of Rajasthan, yet charity might hope forgiveness 
would be extended to him, could he cleanse himself from this 
' throwing this pearl away, richer than all his 
tribe ! ' His career of rapine has terminated with the caresses of 
the blind goddess, and placed him on a pinnacle to which his 
sword would never have traced the path. Enjoying the most 
distinguished post amongst the foreign chieftians of Holkar's 
State, having the regulars and park under his control, with large 
estates for their support, he added the epithet of traitor to his 
other titles, when the British Government, adopting the leading 
maxim of Asiatic policy, divide et inipera, guaranteed to him the 
sovereignty of these districts on his abandoning the Mahrattas, 
disbanding his legions, and surrendering the park. But though 
he personally fulfilled not, nor could fulfil, one single stipulation, 
this man, whose services were not worth the pay of a single 
sepoy__who fled from his camp 1  unattended, and sought personal 
claimed and 
obtained the full price of our pledge, the sovereignty of about 
one-third of his master's dominions ; and the districts of Sironj , 
Tonk, Rampura, and Nimbahera, form the domain of the Nawab 
Amir Khan, etc., etc., etc. ! ! This was in the fitful fever of 
success, when our arms were everywhere triumphant. But were 
the viceroy of Hind to summon the forty tributaries 2  now covered 
by the aegis of British protection to a meeting, the murderer of 
Krishna would still occupy a place (though low) in this illustrious 
divan. Let us hope that his character being known, he would 
feel himself ill at ease ; and let us dismiss him likewise in the 
words of Sangram, " Dust on his head ! " 

The mind sickens at the contemplation of these unvarying 
scenes of atrocity ; but this unhappy State had yet to pass 
through two more lustres of aggravated sufferings (to which the 
author of these annals was an eye-witness) before their [469] 
termination, upon the alliance of Mewar with Britain. From the 
1 Brigadier-General Alexander Knox had the honour of dissolving these 
bands in the only way worthy of us. He marched his troops to take their 
guns and disperse their legions ; and, when in order of battle, the gallant 
General taking out his watch, gave them half an hour to reflect, their com
mander Jamshid, second only in villainy to his master, deeming ' dis
cretion the better part of valour,' surrendered. 
2 There are full this number of princes holding under the British. 
period of the forcing of the passes, the dismissal of the Jaipur 
embassy by Sindhia, and the murder of Krishna Kunwari, the 
embassy of Britain was in the train of the Mahratta leader, a 
when the hand was stretched out for succour in vain, and 
the British flag waved in the centre of desolation, unable 
to afford protection. But this day of humiliation is past, 
thanks to the predatory hordes who goaded us on to their des
truction ; although the work was incomplete, a nucleus being 
imprudently left in Sindhia for the scattered particles again 
to form. 

==Ruin of Mewar by the Marathas==

In the spring of 1806, when 
the embassy entered the once-fertile Mewar, from whose native 
wealth the monuments the pencil will portray were erected, 
deserted towns, roofless houses, 
and uncultured plains. Wlierever the Mahratta encamped, 
annihilation was ensured ; it was a habit ; and twenty-four hours 
sufficed to give to the most flourishing spot the aspect of a desert. 
The march of destruction was always to be traced for days after
wards by burning villages and destroyed cultivation. Some 
satisfaction may result from the fact, that there was scarcely an 
actor in these unhallowed scenes whose end was not fitted to his 
career. Ambaji was compelled to disgorge the spoils of Mewar, 
and his personal sufferings made some atonement for the ills he 
had inflicted upon her. This satrap, who had almost established 
his independence in the fortress and territory of Gwalior, suffered 
every indignity from Sindhia, whose authority he had almost 
thrown off. He was confined in a mean tent, manacled, suffered 
the torture of small lighted torches applied to his fingers, and even 
attempted suicide to avoid the surrender of his riches ; but the 
instrument (an English penknife) was inefficient : the surgeon to 
the British embassy sewed up the wounds, and his coffers were 
eased of fifty-five lakhs of rupees ! Mewar was, however, once 
more delivered over to him ; he died shortly after. If report be 
correct, the residue of his treasures was possessed by his ancient 
ally, Zalim Smgh. In this case, the old politician derived the 
chief advantage of the intrigues of S. 1848, without the crimes 
attendant on the acquisition. 

Sindhia's father-in-law, when expelled that chief's camp, 
according to the treaty, enjoyed the ephemeral dignity of minister 
to the Rana, when he abstracted the most vahiable records, 
especially those of the revenue [470]. 
Kumbhalmer was obtained by the minister Satidas from 
Jaswant Rao Bhao for seventy thousand rupees, for which 
assignments were given on this district, of which he retained 
possession. Amir Khan in a.d. 1809 led his myrmidons to the 
capital, threatening the demolition of the temple of Eklinga if 
refused a contribution of eleven lakhs of rupees. Nine were 
agreed to, but which by no effort could be raised, upon which 
the R ana's envoys were treated with indignity, and Kishandas 1  
wounded. The passes were forced. Amir Khan entering by 
Debari, and his coadjutor and son-in-law, the notorious Jamshid, 
by the Chirwa, which made but a feeble resistance. The ruffian 
Pathans were billeted on the city, subjecting the Rana to personal 
humiliation, and Jamshid 2  left with his licentious Rohillas in the 
capital. The traces of their barbarity are to be seen in its ruins. 
No woman could safely venture abroad, and a decent garment or 
turban was sufficient to attract their cupidity. 

==Bapu Sindhia Siibahdar of Mewar==
In S. 1867 (a.d. 1811) 
Bapu Sindhia arrived with the title of Subahdar, and encamped 
in the valley, and from this to 1814 these vampires, representing 
Sindhia and Amir Khan, possessed themselves of the entire fiscal 
domain, with many of the fiefs, occasionally disputing for the 
spoils ; to prevent which they came to a conference at the Dhaula 
Magra (the white hill), attended by a deputation 3 from the 
Rana, when the line of demarcation was drawn between the 
spoilers. A schedule was formed of the towns and villages yet 
inhabited, the amount to be levied from each specified, and three 
and a half lakhs adjudged to Jamshid, with the same sum to 
Sindhia ; but this treaty was not better kept than the former 
ones. Mewar was rapidly approaching dissolution, and every 

1 This veteran attended me during all these troubles, as the medium of 
communication with the Rana. Though leagued with the Chondawats, he 
was a loyal subject and good servant. I saw him expire, and was of opinion, 
as well as the doctor who accompanied me, that his death was caused by 
poison. The general burst of sorrow from hundreds collected around his 
house, when the event was announced, is the best encomium on his public 
character. 
2  This monstrous villain (for he was a Goliath) died soon after Mewar was 
rescued, from a cancer in his back. 
3 Satidas, Kishandas, and Rup Ram. 
sign of civilization fast disappearing ; fields laid waste, cities in 
ruins, inhabitants exiled, chieftains demoralized, the prince and 
his family destitute of common comforts. Yet had Sindhia the 
audacity to demand compensation for the loss of his tribute 
stipulated to Bapu Sindhia [471],1  who rendered Mewar a desert, 
carrying her chiefs, her merchants, her farmers, into captivity 
and fetters in the dungeons of Ajmer, where many died for want 
of ransom, and others languished till the treaty with the British, 
in A.D. 1817, set them free.