CHAPTER 12

20. The descendants of Mana yet hold Sadri and all the privileges obtained on this occasion. Their kettle-drums beat to the gate of the palace, a privilege allowed to none besides, and they are addressed by the title ofRaj, or royal.

21. [The battle fought on June 18, 1576, is known to Musalmān historians as the battle of Khamnaur or Khamnor, twenty-six miles north of Udaipur city (Badaoni ii. 237;Akbarnāma, iii. 244 ff.; Elliot-Dowson v. 398;Āīn, i. 339; Smith,Akbar the Great Mogul, 151 ff.).]

22. ‘Chetak ka Chabutra’ is near to Jharol.

23. The mother of Sakta was theBaijiraj, ‘Royal Mother’ (Queen Dowager) of Mewar. She loved this son, and left Udaipur to superintend his household at Bhainsror: since which renunciation of rank to affection, the mothers of the senior branch of Saktawat are addressed Baijiraj. [Bhainsror is now held by a Chondāwat Rāwat.]

24. Eight hundred rupees, or £100 daily, is the sum recorded for the support of this prince.

25. The date of this battle is Magh Sudi 7, S. 1633,A.D.1577.

26. [For the career of Shāhbaz Khān, known as Koka or ‘foster-brother,’ who died in 1600, seeĀīn, i. 399 ff. Kūmbhalmer was captured in 1578-9 (Elliot-Dowson v. 410, vi. 58). “About 1578” (Erskine ii. A. 116).]

27. A town in the heart of the mountainous tract on the south-west of Mewar, called Chappan, containing about three hundred and fifty towns and villages, peopled chiefly by the aboriginal Bhils.

28. Called Ami Sah in the Annals.

29. [Akbar was anxious to destroy Partāp, but he could not carry on a guerilla campaign in Rājputana, and he had work to do elsewhere (Smith,Akbar the Great Mogul, 153).]

30. [Mirza Abdu-r-rahīm, son of Bairām Khān (Āīn, i. 334).]

31. Acolloquialcolloquialcontraction for Partap.

32. CalledMol.

33. [Rāē Singh (1571-1611).]

34. It is no affectation to say that the spirit evaporates in the lameness of the translation. The author could feel the force, though he failed to imitate the strength, of the original.

35. [Āīn, i. 276 f.;Memoirs of Jahāngīr, trans. Rogers-Beveridge, 48 f.]

36. At these royal fairs were also sold the productions of princely artisans, male and female, and which, out of compliment to majesty, made a bounteous return for their industry. It is a fact but little known, that most Asiatic princes profess a trade: the great Aurangzeb was a cap-maker, and sold them to such advantage on these ‘ninth day’ fairs, that his funeral expenses were by his own express command defrayed from the privy purse, the accumulation of his personal labour. A delightful anecdote is recorded of the Khilji king Mahmud, whose profession was literary, and who obtained good prices from his Omrahs for his specimens of calligraphy. While engaged in transcribing one of the Persian poets, a professed scholar, who with others attended the conversazione, suggested an emendation, which was instantly attended to, and the supposed error remedied. When the Mullah was gone, the monarch erased the emendation and re-inserted the passage. An Omrah had observed and questioned the action, to which the king replied: “It was better to make a blot in the manuscript than wound the vanity of a humble scholar.” [Ferishta tells the story of Nāsiru-d-dīn Mahmūd, i. 246.]

37. [Compare the later accounts of these fairs by Bernier 272 f.; and Manucci i. 195. Aurangzeb transferred the Nauroz rejoicings to the coronation festival in Ramazān (Jadunath Sarkar,Life of Aurangzib, iii. 93). The ladies of the Mughal court usually spoke, not Pushto, but Turki.]

38. This laxity, as regards female delicacy, must have been a remnant of Scythic barbarism, brought from the banks of the Jaxartes, the land of the Getae, where now, as in the days of Tomyris, a shoe at the door is a sufficient barrier to the entrance of many Tatar husbands. It is a well-known fact, also, that the younger son in these regions inherited a greater share than the elder, which is attributed to their pastoral habits, which invited early emigration in the elder sons. This habit prevailed with the Rajput tribes of very early times, and the annals of the Yadus, a race allied to the Yuti-Getae, or Jāt, afford many instances of it. Modified it yet exists amongst the Jarejas (of the same stock), with whom the sons divide equally; which custom was transmitted to Europe by these Getic hordes, and brought into England by theJutbrothers, who founded the kingdom of Kent (kanthi, ‘a coast’ in Gothic and Sanskrit), where it is yet known asGavelkind. In English law it is termedborough-English. In Scotland it existed in barbarous times, analogous to those when the Nauroza was sanctioned; and the lord of the manor had privileges which rendered it more than doubtful whether the first-born was natural heir: hence, the youngest was the heir. So in France, in ancient times; and though the ‘droit de Jambage’ no longer exists, the term sufficiently denotes the extent of privilege, in comparison with which the other rights of ‘Noçages,’ the seigneur’s feeding his greyhounds with the best dishes and insulting the bride’s blushes with ribald songs, were innocent. [The ethnological views in this note do not deserve notice.]

39. The loss of this is the sign of mourning. [There is naturally no confirmation of these anecdotes in the Musalmān historians, but they possibly may be true.]

40. [See p.398, above.]

41. These mountains are of granite and close-grained quartz; but on the summit of the pass there is a mass of columnar rocks, which, though the author never examined them very closely, he has little hesitation in calling basaltic. Were it permitted to intrude his own feelings on his reader, he would say, he never passed the portals of Debari, which close the pass leading from Chitor to Udaipur, without throwing his eye on this fantastic pinnacle and imagining the picture he has drawn. Whoever, in rambling through the ‘eternal city,’ has had his sympathy awakened in beholding at the Porta Salaria the stone seat where the conqueror of the Persians and the Goths, the blind Belisarius, begged his daily dole,—or pondered at the unsculptured tomb of Napoleon upon the vicissitudes of greatness, will appreciate the feeling of one who, in sentiment, had identified himself with the Rajputs, of whom Partap was justly the model.

42. [A pun onmaur, ‘a crown,’ and the Maurya tribe.]

43. ‘The queen of battlements,’ the turreted Cybele of Rajasthan.

44. This magnificent lake is now adorned with marble palaces. Such was the wealth of Mewar even in her decline. [The lake is said to have been constructed by a Banjāra at the end of the fourteenth century, and the embankment was built by Rāna Udai Singh in 1560. The lake is 2¼ miles long, and 1¼ broad, with an area of over one square mile. In the middle stand the island palaces, the Jagmandir and the Jagniwās (Erskine ii. A. 109).]

Rāna Amar Singh I.,A.D.1597-1620.—Of the seventeen sons of Partap, Amra, who succeeded him, was the eldest. From the early age of eight to the hour of his parent’s death, he had been his constant companion and the partner of his toils and dangers. Initiated by his noble sire in every act of mountain strife, familiar with its perils, he entered on his career[1]in the very flower of manhood, already attended by sons able to maintain whatever his sword might recover of his patrimony.

Akbar, the greatest foe of Mewar, survived Partap nearly eight years.[2]The vast field in which he had to exert the resources of his mind, necessarily withdrew him from a scene where even success ill repaid the sacrifices made to attain it. Amra was left in perfect repose during the remainder of this monarch’s life, which it was not wisdom to disturb by the renewal of a contest against the colossal power of the Mogul. An extended reign of more than half a century permitted Akbar to consolidate the vast empire he had erected, and to model the form of his [351] government, which displays, as handed down by Abu-l Fazl, an incontestable proof of his genius as well as of his natural beneficence. Nor would the Mogul lose, on being contrasted with the contemporary princes of Europe: with Henry IV. of France, who, like himself, ascended a throne weakened by dissension; with Charles V., alike aspiring to universal sway: or the glorious queen of our own isle, who made advances to Akbar and sent him an embassy.[3]Akbar was fortunate as either Henryor Elizabeth in the choice of his ministers. The lofty integrity, military genius, and habits of civil industry, for which Sully was distinguished, found their parallel in Bairam; and if Burleigh equalled in wisdom, he was not superior in virtue to Abu-l Fazl, nor possessed of his excessive benevolence. Unhappily for Mewar, all this genius and power combined to overwhelm her. It is, however, a proud tribute to the memory of the Mogul that his name is united with that of his rival Partap in numerous traditionary couplets honourable to both; and if the Rajput bard naturally emblazons first on his page that of his own hero, he admits that none other but Akbar can stand a comparison with him; thereby confirming the eulogy of the historian of his race, who, in summing up his character, observes that, “if he sometimes did things beneath the dignity of a great king, he never did anything unworthy of a good man.” But if the annalist of the Bundi State can be relied upon, the very act which caused Akbar’s death will make us pause ere we subscribe to these testimonies to the worth of departed greatness, and, disregarding the adage of only speaking good of the dead, compel us to institute, in imitation of the ancient Egyptians, a posthumous inquest on the character of the monarch of the Moguls. The Bundi records are well worthy of belief, as diaries of events were kept by her princes, who were of the first importance in this and the succeeding reigns: and they may be more likely to throw a light upon points of character of a tendency to disgrace the Mogul king, than the historians of his court, who had every reason to withhold such. A desire to be rid of the great Raja Man of Amber, to whom he was so much indebted, made the emperor descend [352] to act the part of the assassin. He prepared ama’ajun, or confection, a part of which contained poison; but, caught in his own snare, he presented the innoxious portion to the Rajput and ate that drugged with death himself.[4]We have a sufficient clue to the motives which influenced Akbar to a deed so unworthy of him, and which were more fully developed in the reign of his successor; namely, a design on the part of Raja Man to alter the succession, and that Khusru, his nephew, should succeed instead of Salim. With such a motive, the aged emperor might have admitted with less scruple the advice which prompted an act he dared not openly undertake, without exposingthe throne in his latter days to the dangers of civil contention, as Raja Man was too powerful to be openly assaulted.

The Administration of Rāna Amar Singh.—Let us return to Mewar. Amra remodelled the institutions of his country, made a new assessment of the lands and distribution of the fiefs, apportioning the service to the times. He also established the gradation of ranks such as yet exists, and regulated the sumptuary laws even to the tie of a turban,[5]and many of these are to be seen engraved on pillars of stone in various parts of the country.

The repose thus enjoyed realized the prophetic fears of Partap, whose admonitions were forgotten. Amra constructed a small palace on the banks of the lake, named after himself ‘the abode of immortality,’[6]still remarkable for its Gothic contrast to the splendid marble edifice erected by his successors, now the abode of the princes of Mewar.

Jahāngīr attacks Mewār.—Jahangir had been four years on the throne, and having overcome all internal dissension, resolved to signalize his reign by the subjugation of the only prince who had disdained to acknowledge the paramount power of the Moguls; and assembling the royal forces, he put them in motion for Mewar.

Amra, between the love of ease and reputation, wavered as to the conduct he should adopt; nor were sycophants wanting who

Counselled ignoble ease and peaceful sloth,Not peace:

Counselled ignoble ease and peaceful sloth,

Not peace:

and dared to prompt his following the universal contagion, by accepting the imperial farman. In such a state of mind the chiefs found their prince, when [353] they repaired to the new abode to warn him, and prepare him for the emergency. But the gallant Chondawat, recalling to their remembrance the dying behest of their late glorious head, demanded its fulfilment. All resolved to imitate the noble Partap,

... preferringHard liberty before the easy yokeOf servile pomp.

... preferring

Hard liberty before the easy yoke

Of servile pomp.

Chief of Salūmbar intervenes.—A magnificent mirror ofEuropean fabrication adorned the embryo palace. Animated with a noble resentment at the inefficacy of his appeal to the better feelings of his prince, the chieftain of Salumbar hurled ‘the slave of the carpet’[7]against the splendid bauble, and starting up, seized his sovereign by the arm and moved him from the throne. “To horse, chiefs!” he exclaimed, “and preserve from infamy the son of Partap.” A burst of passion followed the seeming indignity, and the patriot chief was branded with the harsh name of traitor; but with his sacred duty in view, and supported by every vassal of note, he calmly disregarded the insult. Compelled to mount his steed, and surrounded by the veterans and all the chivalry of Mewar, Amra’s passion vented itself in tears of indignation. In such a mood the cavalcade descended the ridge, since studded with palaces, and had reached the spot where the temple of Jagannath now stands, when he recovered from this fit of passion; the tear ceased to flow, and passing his hand over his moustache,[8]he made a courteous salutation to all, entreating their forgiveness for this omission of respect; but more especially expressing his gratitude to Salumbar, he said, “Lead on, nor shall you ever have to regret your late sovereign.” Elevated with every sentiment of generosity and valour, they passed on to Dawer, where they encountered the royal army led by the brother of the Khankhanan, as it entered the pass, and which, after a long and sanguinary combat, they entirely defeated.[9]

Defeat of the Imperialists.—The honours of the day are chiefly attributed to the brave Kana, uncle to the Rana, and ancestor of that numerous clan called after him Kanawats. A truce followed this battle, but it was of short duration; for another and yet more murderous conflict took place in the spring of 1666, in the pass of the sacred Ranpur [354], where the imperial army, under its leader Abdulla, was almost exterminated;[10]though with the loss of the best and bravest of the chiefs of Mewar,whose names, however harsh, deserve preservation.[11]A feverish exultation was the fruit of this victory, which shed a hectic flush of glory over the declining days of Mewar, when the crimson banner once more floated throughout the province of Godwar.

Jahāngīr establishes Sagra as Rāna.—Alarmed at these successive defeats, Jahangir, preparatory to equipping a fresh army against Mewar, determined to establish a new Rana, and to instal him in the ancient seat of power, Chitor, thus hoping to withdraw from the standard of Amra many of his adherents. The experiment evinced at least a knowledge of their prejudices; but, to the honour of Rajput fidelity, it failed. Sagra, who abandoned Partap and went over to Akbar, was selected;[12]the sword of investiture was girded on him by the emperor’s own hands, and under the escort of a Mogul force he went to reign amidst the ruins of Chitor. Her grandeur, even in desolation, is beautifully depicted at this very period by the chaplain to the embassy from Elizabeth to Jahangir, the members composing which visited the capital of the Sesodias in their route to Ajmer.[13]

For seven years Sagra had a spurious homage paid to him amidst this desolation, the ruined pride of his ancestors. Butit is gratifying to record, that not even by this recreant son of Chitor could the impressions formed in contemplating such scenes be resisted; and Sagra, though flinty as the rock to a brother and nephew, could not support the silent admonition of the altars of the heroes who had fallen in her defence. The triumphal column raised for victory over a combination of [355] kings, was a perpetual memento of his infamy; nor could he pass over one finger’s breadth of her ample surface, without treading on some fragment which reminded him of their great deeds and his own unworthiness. We would be desirous of recording, that a nobler remembrancer than ‘coward conscience,’ animated the brother of Partap to an act of redeeming virtue; but when the annals tell us, that “the terrific Bhairon (the god of battle) openly manifested his displeasure,” it is decisive that it was not less the wish for greatness, than the desire to be “without the illness should attend it”; and sending for his nephew, he restored to him Chitor, retiring to the isolated Kandhar.[14]Some time after, upon going to court, and being upbraided by Jahangir, he drew his dagger and slew himself in the emperor’s presence: an end worthy of such a traitor.[15]

Conquests of Rāna Amar Singh I.—Amra took possession of the seat of his ancestors; but wanting the means to put it in defence, the acquisition only served to increase the temporary exultation. The evil resulting from attaching so much consequence to a capital had been often signally manifested; as to harass the enemy from their mountains, and thereby render his conquests unavailing, was the only policy which could afford the chance of independence. With Chitor the Rana acquired, by surrender or assault, possession of no less than eighty of the chief towns and fortresses of Mewar: amongst them Untala, at whose capture occurred the patriotic struggle between the clans of Chondawat and Saktawat for the leading of the vanguard, elsewhere related.[16]On this memorable storm, besides the leadersof the rival bands, five of the infant clan Saktawat, consisting but of sixteen brave brothers, with three of the house of Salumbar, perished, struggling for the immortality promised by the bard. We may here relate the rise of the Saktawats, with which is materially connected the future history of Mewar.

Sakta and the Saktāwats.—Sakta was the second of the twenty-four sons of Udai Singh. When only five years of age, he discovered that fearless temperament which marked his manhood [356]. The armourer having brought a new dagger to try its edge by the usual proof on thinly spread cotton, the child asked the Rana “if it was not intended to cut bones and flesh,” and seizing it, tried it on his own little hand. The blood gushed on the carpet, but he betrayed no symptom of pain or surprise. Whether his father admitted the tacit reproof of his own want of nerve, or that it recalled the prediction of the astrologers, who, in casting Sakta’s horoscope, had announced that he was to be “the bane of Mewar,” he was incontinently commanded to be put to death, and was carried off for this purpose, when saved by the Salumbar chief, who arrested the fiat, sped to the Rana, and begged his life as a boon, promising, having no heirs, to educate him as the future head of the Chondawats. The Salumbar chief had children in his old age, and while wavering between his own issue and the son of his adoption, the young Sakta was sent for to court by his brother Partap. The brothers for a considerable time lived on the most amicable footing, unhappily interrupted by a dispute while hunting, which in time engendered mutual dislike. While riding in the ring, Partap suddenly proposed to decide their quarrel by single combat, “to see who was the best lancer.” Not backward, Sakta replied, “Do you begin”; and some little time was lost in a courteous struggle for the first spear, when, as they took their ground and agreed to charge together, the Purohit[17]rushed between the combatants and implored them not to ruin the house. His appeal, however, being vain, there was but one way left to prevent the unnatural strife: the priest drew his dagger, and plunging it in his breast, fell a lifeless corpse between the combatants. Appalled at the horrid deed, ‘the blood of the priest on their head,’ they desisted from their infatuated aim. Partap, waving his hand, commanded Sakta to quit his dominions, who bowing retired,and carried his resentments to Akbar. Partap performed with the obsequies of this faithful servant many expiatory rites, and made an irrevocable grant of Salera to his son, still enjoyed by his descendants, while a small column yet identifies the spot of sacrifice to fidelity. From that hour to the memorable day when the founder of the Saktawats gained the birad of the race ‘Khurasan Multan ka Aggal,’ on the occasion of his saving his sovereign flying from the field, the brothers had never beheld each other’s face [357].

Sakta had seventeen sons, all of whom, excepting the heir of Bhainsror,[18]attended his obsequies. On return from this rite they found the gates barred against them by Bhanji, now chief of the Saktawats, who told them “there were too many mouths,” and that they must push their fortunes elsewhere while he attended his sovereign with the quota of Bhainsror. They demanded their horses and their arms, if such were his pleasure; and electing Achal as their head (whose wife was then pregnant), they took the route to Idar, which had recently been acquired by a junior branch of the Rathors of Marwar.[19]They had reached Palod when the pangs of childbirth seized the wife of Achal; and being rudely repulsed by the Sonigira vassal of Palod, who refused her shelter at such a moment, they sought refuge amidst the ruins of a temple.[20]It was the shrine of Mata Janavi, ‘the mother of births,’ the Juno Lucina of the Rajputs. In a corner of the sanctuary they placed the mother of a future race; but the rain, which fell in torrents, visibly affected the ruin. A beam of stone gave way, which but for Bala would have crushed her: he supported the sinking roof on his head till the brothers cut down a babul tree, with which they propped it and relieved him. In this retreat Asa (Hope) was born, who became the parent of an extensive branch known as the Achalis Saktawats.

The ‘Great Mother’ was propitious. The parent of ‘Hope’ was soon enabled to resume her journey for Idar, whose chief received them with open arms, and assigned lands for theirsupport. Here they had been some time when the Rana’s prime minister passed through Idar from a pilgrimage to Satrunjaya.[21]A violent storm would have thrown down the tent in which was his wife, but for the exertion of some of the brothers; and the minister, on learning that it was to the near kin of his sovereign he was indebted for this kindness, invited them to Udaipur, taking upon him to provide for them with their own proper head, which they declined without a special invitation. This was not long wanting; for Amra [358] was then collecting the strength of his hills against the king, and the services of the band of brothers, his kinsmen, were peculiarly acceptable. The first act of duty, though humble, is properly recorded, as ennobled by the sentiment which inspired it, and the pictured scene is yet preserved of Bala and Jodha collecting logs of wood for a night fire in the mountain bivouac for their kinsman and sovereign. In the more brilliant exploit which followed Bala took the lead, and though the lord of Bhainsror was in camp, it was Bala who obtained the leading of the vanguard: the commencement of that rivalry of clanship from whence have resulted some of the most daring, and many of the most merciless deeds in the history of Mewar. The right to lead in battle belonged to the Chondawats, and the first intimation the chieftain had of his prince’s inconsiderate insult was from the bard incessantly repeating the ‘birad’ of the clan, until ‘the portal of the ten thousand’ of Mewar deemed him mad. “Not so,” replied he; “but it is, perhaps, the last time your ears may be gratified with the watchword of Chonda, which may to-morrow be given as well as the Harawal to the Saktawats.” An explanation followed, and the assault of Untala ensued, which preserved the rights of the Chondawats, though nobly contested by their rivals. The vassal of Bakrol carried the tidings of the successful assault to the Rana, who arrived in time to receive the last obeisance of Bala, whose parting words to his prince were seized on by the bard and added to the birad of the clan: and although, in sloth and opium, they now “lose and neglect the creeping hours of time,” yet whenever a Saktawat chief enters the court of his sovereign, or takes his seat amongst his brother chiefs, the bards still salute him with the dying words of Bala:

"Dūna dātār.Chauguna junjhār,Khurāsān Multān ka āggāl."[22]

"Dūna dātār.

Chauguna junjhār,

Khurāsān Multān ka āggāl."[22]

Then passing the hand over his moustache, for a moment the escalade of Untala flits before his vision, where Bala, Achalis, Jodha, Dilla, and Chaturbhan, five of the seventeen sons of Sakta, fell for the maintenance of the post of honour [359]. Bhanji soon after performed a service which obtained him the entire favour of his prince, who, returning from Ratlam, was insulted by the Rathors of Bhindar, which was punished by the Saktawat, who took the town by assault, expelling the aggressors. Amra added it to his fief of Bhainsror, and since the latter was bestowed on the rival clan, Bhindar has continued the chief residence of the leader of the Saktawats. Ten chiefs[23]have followed in regularsuccession, whose issue spread over Mewar, so that in a few generations after Sakta, their prince could muster the swords of ten thousand Saktawats; but internal feuds and interminable spoliation have checked the progress of population, and it might be difficult now to assemble half that number of the ‘children of Sakta’ fit to bear arms.

Renewed Attack by Jahāngīr. Battle of Khāmnor.—To return. These defeats alarmed Jahangir, who determined to equip an overwhelming force to crush the Rana. To this end he raised the imperial standard at Ajmer, and assembled the expedition under his immediate inspection, of which he appointed his son Parvez commander, with instructions on departure “that if the Rana or his elder son Karan should repair to him, to receive them with becoming attention, and to offer no molestation to the country.”[24]But the Sesodia prince little thought of submission: on the contrary, flushed with success, he gave the royal army the meeting at a spot oft moistened with blood, the pass of Khamnor,[25]leading into the heart of the hills. The imperial army was disgracefully beaten, and fled, pursued with great havoc, towards Ajmer. The Mogul historian admits it to have been a glorious day for Mewar. He describes Parvez entangled in the passes, dissensions in his camp, his supplies cut off, and under all [360] these disadvantages attacked; his precipitate flight and pursuit, in which the royal army lost vast numbers of men.[26]But Jahangir in his diary slurs it over, andsimply remarks: “Fearing that Khusrau’s affair might be prolonged, I ordered my son Parwīz to leave some of the Sardārs to look after the Rānā, and to come to Agra with Āsaf Khān and a body of those nearly connected with him in the service.”[27]

This son, tutored by the great Mahabat Khan, fared no better than Parvez; he was routed and slain. But the Hydra was indestructible; for every victory, while it cost the best blood of Mewar, only multiplied the number of her foes. Seventeen pitched battles had the illustrious Rajput fought since the death of his father: but the loss of his experienced veterans withered the laurels of victory, nor had he sufficient repose either to husband his resources or to rear his young heroes to replace them. Another and yet more mighty army was assembled under Prince Khurram, the ablest of the sons of Jahangir, and better known in history as Shah Jahan, when emperor of the Moguls.

Again did the Rana with his son Karan collect the might of their hills; but a handful of warriors was all their muster to meet the host of Delhi, and the ‘crimson banner,’ which for more than eight hundred years had waved in proud independence over the heads of the Guhilots, was now to be abased to the son of Jahangir. The Emperor’s own pen shall narrate the termination of this strife.

"My chief object, after my visit to the Khwāja [the tomb of Mu’īnu-d-dīn Chishti, the saint of Ajmer] was to put a stop to the affair of the rebel Rānā. On this account I determined to remain myself at Ajmīr and send on Bābā Khurram, my fortunate son. This idea was a very good one, and on this account, on the 6th of Day [tenth month of the solar year] at the hour fixed on, I dispatched him in happiness and triumph. I presented him with aqabā(outer coat) of gold brocade with jewelled flowers and pearls round the flowers, a brocaded turban with strings of pearls, a gold woven sash with chains of pearls, one of my private elephants called Fath Gaj, with trappings, a splendid horse, ajewelled sword, with aphūl katāra(dagger). In addition to the men first appointed to this duty under the leadership of Khān A’zam, I sent 12,000 more horse with my son, and honoured theirkhil’at(wearing robes of honour) leaders."[28]

On 14th Isfandārmuz [twelfth month of the solar year] "a representation came from my son Bābā Khurram that the elephant ‛Ālam Gumān [‘arrogant of the earth’], of which the Rānā was very fond, together with seventeen ‛Ālamgumān other elephants, had fallen into the hands of the victorious army."[29]Jahāngīr rode this elephant on the second day of the New Year, which began on 21st March 1614.[30]

"In the month of Bahman [eleventh solar month] there came pieces of good news, one after the other. The first was that the Rānā Amar Singh had elected for obedience and service to the Court. The circumstances of this affair are these. Sultān Khurram, by dint of placing a great many posts, especially in some places where most people said it was impossible to place them on account of the badness of the air and water and the wild nature of the localities, and by dint of moving the royal forces one after another in pursuit, without regard to the heat or excessive rain, and making prisoners of the inhabitants of that region, brought matters with the Rānā to such a pass that it became clear to him that if this should happen to him again he must either fly the country or be made prisoner. Being without remedy, he chose obedience and loyalty, and sent to my fortunate son his maternal uncle Subhkaran, with Haridās Jhālā, who was one of the two men in his confidence, and petitioned that if that fortunate son would ask forgiveness for his offences and tranquillize his mind, and obtain for him the auspicious sign-manual (panja,[31]the mark of the Emperor’s five fingers), he would himselfwait on my son, and would send his son and successor, Karan Singh, or he, after the manner of other Rājas, would be enrolled among the servants of the Court and do service. He also begged that he himself might be excused from coming to Court on account of his old age. Accordingly, my son sent them in company with his own Dīwān, Mullā Shukru-llah, whom after the conclusion of this business I dignified with the title of Afzal Khān, and Sundar Dās, his major-domo, who, after the matter was settled, was honoured with the title of Rāy Rayān, to the exalted Court, and represented the circumstances. My lofty mind was always desirous, as far as possible, not to destroy the old families. The real point was that as Rānā Amar Singh and his fathers, proud in the strength of the hilly country and their abodes, had never seen or obeyed any of the kings of Hindustan, this should be brought about in my reign. At the request of my son, I forgave the Rānā’s offences, and gave a gracious farmān that should satisfy him, and impressed on it the mark of my auspicious palm. I also wrote a farmān of kindness to my son that if he could arrange to settle the matter I should be much pleased. My son also sent them [perhaps the uncle and Haridās, or the farmāns] with Mullā Shukru-llah and Sundar Dās to the Rānā to console him and make him hopeful of the royal favour. They gave him the gracious farmān with the sign-manual of the auspicious hand, and it was settled that on Sunday, the 26th of the month Bahman, he and his sons should come and pay their respects to my son."[32]

"In the end of this month, when I was employed in hunting in the environs of Ajmīr, Muhammad Beg, an attendant on my fortunate son Sultān Khurram, came and brought a report from that son, and stated that the Rānā had come with his sons and paid his respects to the prince: the details would be made known by the report. I immediately turned the face of supplication to the Divine Court, and prostrated myself in thanksgiving. I presented a horse, an elephant, and a jewelled dagger to the aforesaid Muhammad Khān, and honoured him with the title of Zu-l-faqār Khān [‘Lord of the sword’]."[33]

"From the report it appeared that on Sunday the 26th Bahman, the Rānā paid his respects to my fortunate son with the politeness and ritual that servants pay their respects, and producedas offerings a famous large ruby that was in his house, with some decorated articles and seven elephants, some of them fit for the private stud, and which had not fallen into our hands, and were the only ones left him, and nine horses. My son also behaved to him with perfect kindness. When the Rānā clasped his feet and asked forgiveness for his faults, he took his hand and placed it on his breast, and consoled him in such a manner as to comfort him. He presented him with a superb dress of honour, a jewelled sword, a horse with a jewelled saddle, and a private elephant with silver housings, and as there were not more than 100 men with him who were worthy of complete robes of honour, he gave 100sarupā[dresses] and 50 horses and 12 jewelledkhapwā[daggers]. As it is the custom of the Zamīndārs[34]that the son who is the heir-apparent should not go with his father to pay his respects to a king or prince,[35]the Rānā observed this custom, and did not bring with him Karan, the son who had received thetīkā[forehead mark of inauguration]. As the hour (fixed by astrology) of his departure of that son of lofty fortune from that place was the end of that same day, he gave him leave, so that, having himself gone, he might send Karan to pay his respects. To him also he gave a superb dress of honour, a jewelled sword and dagger, a horse with a gold saddle, and a special elephant, and on the same day, taking Karan in attendance, he proceeded towards the illustrious Court."[36]

"In my interview with Sultan Khurram on his arrival at Ajmer,[37]he represented that if it was my pleasure he would present the prince Karan, whom I accordingly desired him to bring. He arrived, paid his respects,and his rank was commanded to be, at the request of my son, immediately on my right hand, and I rewarded him with suitable khilats. As Karan, owing to the rude life he had led in his native hills, was extremely shy, and unused to the pageantry and experience of a court, in order to reconcile and give him confidence I daily gave him some testimonies of myregard and protection, and in the second day of his service I gave him a jewelled dagger, and on the third a choice steed of Irak with rich caparisons; and on the same day, I took him with me to the queen’s court, when the queen, Nur Jahan, made him splendid khilats, elephant and horse caparisoned, sword, etc. The same day I gave him a rich necklace of pearls, another day an elephant, and it was my wish to give him rarities and choice things of every kind. I gave him three royal hawks and three gentle falcons trained to the hand,[38]coat of mail, chain and plate armour, and two rings of value; and, on the last day of the month, carpets, state cushions, perfumes, vessels of gold, and a pair of the bullocks of Gujarat.[39]

"10th year.[40]At this time I gave prince Karan leave to return to his jagir;[41]when I bestowed on him an elephant, horse, and a pearl necklace valued at 50,000 rupees (£5000); and from the day of his repairing to my court to that of his departure, the value of the various gifts I presented him exceeded ten lakhs of rupees (£125,000), exclusive of one hundred and ten horses, five elephants, or what my son Khurram gave him. I sent Mubarik Khan along with [364] him, by whom I sent an elephant, horse, etc., and various confidential messages to the Rana.

"On the 8th Safar[42]of the 10th year of theH.1024 Karan was elevated to the dignity of a Mansabdar[43]of five thousand, when I presented him with a bracelet of pearls, in which was a ruby of great price.

"24th Muharram,[44]10th year (A.D.1615), Jagat Sing, son of Karan, aged twelve years, arrived at court and paid his respects, and presented the arzis of his father and grandfather, Rana Amra Singh.His countenance carried the impression of hisillustrious extraction,[45]and I delighted his heart with presents and kindness.

"On the 10th Shaban,[46]Jagat Singh had permission to return to his house. At his departure I presented him with 20,000 rupees, a horse, elephant, and khilats [365]; and to Haridas Jhala, preceptor of Prince Karan, 5000 rupees, a horse, and khilat; and I sent by him six golden images[47]to the Rana.

"28th Rabiu-l-Ākhir,[48]11th year.The statues of the Rana and Karan, sculptured in white marble, I desired should have inscribed the date in which they were prepared and presented, and commanded they should be placed in the gardens at Agra.[49]

"In the 11th year of my reign an arzi from Itimad Khan acquainted me that Sultan Khurram had entered the Rana’s country, and that prince and his son had both exchanged visits with my son; and that from the tribute, consisting of seven elephants, twenty-seven saddle horses, trays of jewels, and ornaments of gold, my son took three horses and returned all the rest, and engaged that Prince Karan and fifteen hundred Rajput horse should remain with him in the wars.

"In the 13th year Prince Karan repaired to my court, then at Sindla, to congratulate me on my victories and conquest of the Deccan, and presented 100 mohars,[50]1000 rupees, nazarana, and effects in gold and jewels to the amount of 21,000 rupees, hardyelephants and horses; the last I returned, but kept the rest, and next day presented him a dress of honour; and from Fatehpur gave him his leave, with elephant, horse, sword, and dagger, and a horse for his father.

"14th year of my reign. On the 17th Rabiu-l-awwal,[51]1029H., I received intelligence of the death of Rana Amra Singh.[52]To Jagat Singh, his grandson, and Bhim Singh, his son, in attendance, I gave khilats, and dispatched Raja Kishordas[53]with the farman conferring benefits and with the dignity of Rana, the khilat of investiture, choice horses, and a letter of condolence suitable to the occasion to Prince Karan. 7th Shawwal.[54]Biharidas Brahman I dispatched with a [366] farman to Rana Karan, desiring that his son with his contingent should attend me."

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