CHAPTER 8

20. [The four-armed Vishnu, the favourite deity of the Mertia Rāthors (Census Report, Rajputana, 1891, ii. 26).]

21. The ceremony of joining hands.

22. [His mother was a Pramār, Subhāgya Devi, daughter of Rāja Jaitmall, Sānkhla.]

Rāna Kūmbha,A.D.1433-68.—Kumbha succeeded his father in S. 1475 (A.D.1419);[1]nor did any symptom of dissatisfactionappear to usher in his reign, which was one of great success amidst no common difficulties. The bardic historians[2]do as much honour to the Marwar prince, who had made common cause with their sovereign in revenging the death of his father, as if it had involved the security of his crown; but this was a precautionary measure of the prince, who was induced thus to act from several motives, and, above all, in accordance with usage, which stigmatizes the refusal of aid when demanded: besides ‘Kumbha was the nephew of Marwar.’

It has rarely occurred in any country to have possessed successively so many energetic princes as ruled Mewar through several centuries. She was now in the middle path of her glory, and enjoying the legitimate triumph of seeing the foes of her religion captives on the rock of her power. A century had elapsed since the bigot Ala had wreaked his vengeance on the different monuments of art. Chitor had recovered the sack, and new defenders had sprung up in the place [287] of those who had fallen in their ‘saffron robes,’ a sacrifice for her preservation. All that was wanting to augment her resources against the storms which were collecting on the brows of Caucasus and the shores of the Oxus, and were destined to burst on the head of his grandson Sanga, was effected by Kumbha; who with Hamir’s energy, Lakha’s taste for the arts, and a genius comprehensive as either and more fortunate, succeeded in all his undertakings, and once more raised the ‘crimson banner’ of Mewar upon the banks of the Ghaggar, the scene of Samarsi’s defeat. Let us contrast the patriarchal Hindu governments of this period with the despotism of the Tatar invader.

From the age of Shihabu-d-din, the conqueror of India, and his contemporary Samarsi, to the time we have now reached, two entire dynasties, numbering twenty-four emperors and one empress, through assassination, rebellion, and dethronement, had followed in rapid succession, yielding a result of only nine years to a reign. Of Mewar, though several fell in defending their altars at home or their religion abroad, eleven princes suffice to fill the same period.

It was towards the close of the Khilji dynasty that the satrapsof Delhi shook off its authority and established subordinate kingdoms: Bijapur and Golkonda in the Deccan; Malwa, Gujarat, Jaunpur in the east; and even Kalpi had its king. Malwa and Gujarat had attained considerable power when Kumbha ascended the throne. In the midst of his prosperity these two States formed a league against him, and in S. 1496 (A.D.1440) both kings, at the head of powerful armies, invaded Mewar. Kumbha met them on the plains of Malwa bordering on his own State, and at the head of one hundred thousand horse and foot and fourteen hundred elephants, gave them an entire defeat, carrying captive to Chitor Mahmud the Khilji sovereign of Malwa.

Abu-l Fazl relates this victory, and dilates on Kumbha’s greatness of soul in setting his enemy at liberty, not only without ransom but with gifts.[3]Such is the character of the Hindu: a mixture of arrogance, political blindness, pride, and generosity. To spare a prostrate foe is the creed of the Hindu cavalier, and he carries all such maxims to excess. The annals, however, state that Mahmud was confined six months in Chitor; and that the trophies of conquest were retained we have evidence from Babur, who mentions receiving from the son of his opponent, Sanga, the crown of the Malwa king.

The Tower of Victory.—But there is a more durable [288] monument than this written record of victory: the triumphal pillar in Chitor, whose inscriptions detail the event, “when, shaking the earth, the lords of Gujarkhand and Malwa, with armies overwhelming as the ocean, invaded Medpat.” Eleven years after this event Kumbha laid the foundations of this column, which was completed in ten more: a period apparently too short to place “this ringlet on the brow of Chitor, which makes her look down upon Meru with derision.” We will leave it, with the aspiration that it may long continue a monument of the fortune of its founders.[4]

It would appear that the Malwa king afterwards united hisarms with Kumbha, as, in a victory gained over the imperial forces at Jhunjhunu, when ‘he planted his standard in Hissar,’ the Malwa troops were combined with those of Mewar. The imperial power had at this period greatly declined: the Khutba was read in the mosques in the name of Timur, and the Malwa king had defeated, single-handed, the last Ghorian sultan of Delhi.

The Fortresses of Mewār.—Of eighty-four fortresses for the defence of Mewar, thirty-two were erected by Kumbha. Inferior only to Chitor is that stupendous work called after him Kumbhalmer,[5]‘the hill of Kumbha,’ from its natural position, and the works he raised, impregnable to a native army. These works were on the site of a more ancient fortress, of which the mountaineers long held possession. Tradition ascribes it to Samprati Raja, a Jain prince in the second century, and a descendant of Chandragupta;[6]and the ancient Jain temples appear to confirm the tradition. When Kumbha captured Nagor he brought away the gates, with the statue of the god Hanuman, who gives his name to the gate which he still guards. He also erected a citadel on a peak of Abu, within the fortress of the ancient Pramara, where he often resided. Its magazine and alarm-tower still bear Kumbha’s name; and in a rude temple the bronze effigies of Kumbha and his father still receive divine honours.[7]Centuries have passed since the princes of Mewar had influence here, but the incident marks the vivid remembrance of their condition. He fortified the passes between the western frontier and Abu, and erected the fort Vasanti near the present Sirohi, and that of Machin, to defend the Shero Nala and Deogarh against the Mers of Aravalli. He re-established Ahor and other smaller [289] forts to overawe the Bhumia[8]Bhil of Jharol and Panarwa, and defined the boundaries of Marwar and Mewar.

Temples.—Besides these monuments of his genius, two consecrated to religion have survived: that of Kumbha Sham, on Abu, which, though worthy to attract notice elsewhere, is here eclipsed by a crowd of more interesting objects; the other, oneof the largest edifices existing, cost upwards of a million sterling, towards which Kumbha contributed eighty thousand pounds. It is erected in the Sadri pass leading from the western descent of the highlands of Mewar, and is dedicated to Rishabhadeva.[9]Its secluded position has preserved it from bigoted fury, and its only visitants now are the wild beasts who take shelter in its sanctuary. Kumbha Rana was also a poet: but in a far more elevated strain than the troubadour princes, his neighbours, who contented themselves with rehearsing their own prowess or celebrating their lady’s beauty. He composed atika, or appendix to the ‘Divine Melodies,’[10]in praise of Krishna. We can pass no judgment on these inspirations of the royal bard, as we are ignorant whether any are preserved in the records of the house: a point his descendant, who is deeply skilled in such lore, might probably answer.

Mīra Bāi.—Kumbha married a daughter of the Rathor of Merta, the first of the clans of Marwar. Mira Bai[11]was the most celebrated princess of her time for beauty and romantic piety. Her compositions were numerous, though better known to the worshippers of the Hindu Apollo than to the ribald bards. Some of her odes and hymns to the deity are preserved and admired. Whether she imbibed her poetic piety from her husband, orwhether from her he caught the sympathy which produced the ‘sequel to the songs of Govinda,’ we cannot determine. Her history is a romance, and her excess of devotion at every shrine of the favourite deity with the fair of Hind, from the Yamuna to ‘the world’s end,’[12]gave rise to many [290] tales of scandal. Kumbha mixed gallantry with his warlike pursuits. He carried off the daughter of the chief of Jhalawar, who had been betrothed to the prince of Mandor: this renewed the old feud, and the Rathor made many attempts to redeem his affianced bride. His humiliation was insupportable, when through the purified atmosphere of the periodical rains “the towers of Kumbhalmer became visible from the castle of Mandor, and the light radiated from the chamber of the fair through the gloom of a night in Bhadon,[13]to the hall where he brooded o’er his sorrows.” It was surmised that this night-lamp was an understood signal of the Jhalani, who pined at the decree which ambition had dictated to her father, in consigning her to the more powerful rival of her affianced lord. The Rathor exhausted every resource to gain access to the fair, and had once nearly succeeded in a surprise by escalade, having cut his way in the night through the forest in the western and least guarded acclivity: but, as the bard equivocally remarks, "though he cut his way through thejhal(brushwood), he could not reach theJhalani."

The Assassination of Rāna Kūmbha,A.D.1468.—Kumbha had occupied the throne half a century; he had triumphed over the enemies of his race, fortified his country with strongholds, embellished it with temples, and with the superstructure of her fame had laid the foundation of his own—when, the year which should have been a jubilee was disgraced by the foulest blot in the annals; and his life, which nature was about to close, terminated by the poignard of an assassin—that assassin, his son!

Rāna Uda,A.D.1468-73.—This happened in S. 1525 (A.D.1469). Uda was the name of the parricide, whose unnatural ambition, and impatience to enjoy a short lustre of sovereignty, bereft of life the author of his existence. But such is the detestation which marks this unusual crime that, like that of the Venetian traitor, his name is left a blank in the annals, nor is Uda known but by the epithetHatyara, ‘the murderer.’ Shunned by his kin, and compelled to look abroad for succour to maintain himon the throne polluted by his crime, Mewar in five years of illegitimate rule lost half the consequence which had cost so many to acquire. He made the Deora prince independent in Abu, and bestowed Sambhar, Ajmer, and adjacent districts on the prince of Jodhpur[14]as the price of his friendship. But, a prey to remorse, he felt that he [291] could neither claim regard from, nor place any dependence upon, these princes, though he bribed them with provinces. He humbled himself before the king of Delhi, offering him a daughter in marriage to obtain his sanction to his authority; “but heaven manifested its vengeance to prevent this additional iniquity, and preserve the house of Bappa Rawal from dishonour.” He had scarcely quitted the divan (diwankhana), on taking leave of the king, when a flash of lightning struck theHatyarato the earth, whence he never arose.[15]The bards pass over this period cursorily, as one of their race was the instrument of Uda’s crime.

Banishment of the Chārans.—There has always been a jealousy between the Mangtas, as they term all classes ‘who extend the palm,’ whether Brahmans, Yatis, Charans, or Bhats; but since Hamir, the Charan influence had far eclipsed the rest. A Brahman astrologer predicted Kumbha’s death through a Charan, and as the class had given other cause of offence, Kumbha banished the fraternity his dominions, resuming all their lands: a strong measure in those days, and which few would have had nerve to attempt or firmness to execute. The heir-apparent, Raemall, who was exiled to Idar for what his father deemed an impertinent curiosity,[16]had attached one of these bards to his suite, whose ingenuity got the edict set aside, and his race restored to their lands and the prince’s favour. Had they taken off the Brahman’s head, they might have falsified the prediction which unhappily was too soon fulfilled.[17]

Rāna Rāemall,A.D.1473-1508.—Raemall succeeded in S. 1530 (A.D.1474) by his own valour to the seat of Kumbha. He had fought and defeated the usurper, who on this occasion fled to the king of Delhi and offered him a daughter of Mewar. After his death in the manner described, the Delhi monarch, with Sahasmall [292] and Surajmall, sons of the parricide, invaded Mewar, encamping at Siarh, now Nathdwara. The chiefs were faithful to their legitimate prince, Raemall, and aided by his allies of Abu and Girnar, at the head of fifty-eight thousand horse and eleven thousand foot, he gave battle to the pretender and his imperial ally at Ghasa. The conflict was ferocious. ‘The streams ran blood,’ for the sons of the usurper were brave as lions; but the king was so completely routed that he never again entered Mewar.

Raemall bestowed one daughter on Surji (Yadu), the chief of Girnar; and another on the Deora, Jaimall of Sirohi, confirming his title to Abu as her dower. He sustained the warlike reputation of his predecessors, and carried on interminable strife with Ghiyasu-d-din of Malwa, whom he defeated in several pitched battles, to the success of which the valour of his nephews, whom he had pardoned, mainly contributed. In the last of these encounters the Khilji king sued for peace, renouncing the pretensions he had formerly urged.[18]The dynasty of Lodi next enjoyed the imperial bauble, and with it Mewar had to contest her northern boundary.

The Sons of Rāna Rāemall.—Raemall had three sons, celebratedin the annals of Rajasthan: Sanga, the competitor of Babur, Prithiraj, the Rolando of his age, and Jaimall. Unhappily for the country and their father’s repose, fraternal affection was discarded for deadly hate, and their feuds and dissensions were a source of constant alarm. Had discord not disunited them, the reign of Raemall would have equalled any of his predecessors. As it was, it presented a striking contrast to them: his two elder sons banished; the first, Sanga, self-exiled from perpetual fear of his life, and Prithiraj, the second, from his turbulence; while the youngest, Jaimall, was slain through his intemperance. A sketch of these feuds will present a good picture of the Rajput character, and their mode of life when their arms were not required against their country’s foes.

Sanga[19]and Prithiraj were the offspring of the Jhali queen; Jaimall was by another mother. What moral influence the name he bore had on Prithiraj we can surmise only from his actions, which would stand comparison with those of his prototype [293] the Chauhan of Delhi, and are yet the delight of the Sesodia. When they assemble at the feast after a day’s sport, or in a sultry evening spread the carpet on the terrace to inhale the leaf or take a cup of kusumbha,[20]a tale of Prithiraj recited by the bard is the highest treat they can enjoy. Sanga, the heir-apparent, was a contrast to his brother. Equally brave, his courage was tempered by reflection; while Prithiraj burned with a perpetual thirst for action, and often observed “that fate must have intended him to rule Mewar.” The three brothers, with their uncle, Surajmall, were one day discussing these topics, when Sanga observed that, though heir to ‘the ten thousand towns’ of Mewar, he would waive his claims, and trust them, as did the Roman brothers, to the omen which should be given by the priestess of Charani Devi at Nahra Magra,[21]the ‘Tiger’s Mount.’ They repaired to her abode. Prithiraj and Jaimall entered first, and seated themselves on a pallet: Sanga followed and took possession of the panther hide of the prophetess; his uncle, Surajmall, with one knee resting thereon. Scarcely had Prithiraj disclosed their errand, when the sibyl pointed to the panther-hide[22]as the decisive omenof sovereignty to Sanga, with a portion to his uncle. They received the decree as did the twins of Rome. Prithiraj drew his sword and would have falsified the omen, had not Surajmall stepped in and received the blow destined for Sanga, while the prophetess fled from their fury. Surajmall and Prithiraj were exhausted with wounds, and Sanga fled with five sword-cuts and an arrow in his eye, which destroyed the sight for ever. He made for the sanctuary of Chaturbhuja, and passing Sivanti, took refuge with Bida (Udawat), who was accoutred for a journey, his steed standing by him. Scarcely had he assisted the wounded heir of Mewar to alight when Jaimall galloped up in pursuit. The Rathor guarded the sanctuary, and gave up his life in defence of his guest, who meanwhile escaped.

Retirement of Sanga.—Prithiraj recovered from his wounds; and Sanga, aware of his implacable enmity, had recourse to many expedients to avoid discovery. He, who at a future period leagued a hundred thousand men against the descendant of Timur, was compelled to associate with goat-herds, expelled the peasant’s abode as too stupid [294] to tend his cattle, and, precisely like our Alfred the Great, having in charge some cakes of flour, was reproached with being more desirous of eating than tending them. A few faithful Rajputs found him in this state, and, providing him with arms and a horse, they took service with Rao Karamchand, Pramar, chief of Srinagar,[23]and with him ‘ran the country.’ After one of these raids, Sanga one day alighted under a banian tree, and placing his dagger under his head, reposed, while two of his faithful Rajputs, whose names are preserved,[24]prepared his repast, their steeds grazing by them. A ray of the sun penetrating the foliage, fell on Sanga’s face, and discovered a snake, which, feeling the warmth, had uncoiled itself and was rearing its crest over the head of the exile:[25]a bird of omen[26]had perched itselfon the crested serpent, and was chattering aloud. A goat-herd named Maru, ‘versed in the language of birds,’ passed at the moment Sanga awoke. The prince repelled the proffered homage of the goat-herd, who, however, had intimated to the Pramara chief that he was served by ‘royalty.’[27]The Pramara kept the secret, and gave Sanga a daughter to wife, and protection till the tragical end of his brother called him to the throne.

The Adventures of Prithirāj.—When the Rana heard of the quarrel which had nearly deprived him of his heir, he banished Prithiraj, telling him that he might live on his bravery and maintain himself with strife. With but five horse[28]Prithiraj quitted the paternal abode, and made for Bali in Godwar. These dissensions following the disastrous conclusion of the last reign, paralysed the country, and the wild tribes of the west and the mountaineers of the Aravalli so little respected the garrison of Nadol (the chief town of Godwar), that they carried their depredations to the plains. Prithiraj halted at Nadol, and having to procure some necessaries pledged a ring to the merchant who had sold it to him; the merchant recognized the prince, and learning the cause of his disguise, proffered his services in the scheme which the prince had in view for the restoration of order in Godwar, being determined to evince to his father that he had resources independent of birth. The Minas were the aboriginal proprietors of all these regions; the Rajputs were interlopers and conquerors. A Rawat of this tribe had regained their ancient haunts, and held his petty court at the [295] town of Narlai in the plains, and was even served by Rajputs. By the advice of Ojha, the merchant, Prithiraj enlisted himself and his band among the adherents of the Mina. On the Aheria, or ‘hunter’s festival,’ the vassals have leave to rejoin their families. Prithiraj, who had also obtained leave, rapidly retraced his steps, and despatching his Rajputs to dislodge the Mina, awaited the result in ambush at the gate of the town. In a short time the Mina appeared on horseback, and in full flight to the mountains for security, Prithiraj pursued, overtook, and transfixed him with his lance to a kesula tree, and setting fire to the village, he slew the Minas as they sought to escape the flames. Other towns shared the same fate, and all theprovince of Godwar, with the exception of Desuri, a stronghold of the Madrecha Chauhans, fell into his power. At this time Sada Solanki, whose ancestor had escaped the destruction of Patan and found refuge in these mountainous tracts, held Sodhgarh. He had espoused a daughter of the Madrecha, but the grant of Desuri and its lands[29]in perpetuity easily gained him to the cause of Prithiraj.

Prithiraj having thus restored order in Godwar, and appointed Ojha and the Solanki to the government thereof, regained the confidence of his father; and his brother Jaimall being slain at this time, accelerated his forgiveness and recall. Ere he rejoins Raemall we will relate the manner of this event. Jaimall was desirous to obtain the hand of Tara Bai, daughter of Rao Surthan,[30]who had been expelled Toda by the Pathans. The price of her hand was the recovery of this domain: but Jaimall, willing to anticipate the reward, and rudely attempting access to the fair, was slain by the indignant father. The quibbling remark of the bard upon this event is that "Tara was not the star (tara) of his destiny." At the period of this occurrence Sanga was in concealment, Prithiraj banished, and Jaimall consequently looked to as the heir of Mewar. The Rana, when incited to revenge, replied with a magnanimity which deserves to be recorded, "that he who had thus dared to insult the honour of a [296] father, and that father in distress, richly merited his fate"; and in proof of his disavowal of such a son he conferred on the Solanki the district of Badnor.

Prithirāj recalled.—This event led to the recall of Prithiraj, who eagerly took up the gage disgraced by his brother. The adventure was akin to his taste. The exploit which won the hand of the fair Amazon, who, equipped with bow and quiver, subsequently accompanied him in many perilous enterprises, will be elsewhere related.

Surajmall (the uncle), who had fomented these quarrels, resolved not to belie the prophetess if a crown lay in his path. The claims acquired from his parricidal parent were revived when Mewar had no sons to look to. Prithiraj on his return renewed the feud with Surajmall, whose ‘vaulting ambition’ persuaded him that the crown was his destiny, and he plunged deep into treason to obtain it. He joined as partner in his schemes Sarangdeo, another descendant of Lakha Rana, and both repaired to Muzaffar, the sultan of Malwa.[31]With his aid they assailed the southern frontier, and rapidly possessed themselves of Sadri, Bataro, and a wide tract extending from Nai to Nimach, attempting even Chitor. With the few troops at hand Raemall descended to punish the rebels, who met the attack on the river Gambhir.[32]The Rana, fighting like a common soldier, had received two-and-twenty wounds, and was nearly falling through faintness, when Prithiraj joined him with one thousand fresh horse, and reanimated the battle. He selected his uncle Surajmall, whom he soon covered with wounds. Many had fallen on both sides, but neither party would yield; when worn out they mutually retired from the field, and bivouacked in sight of each other.

Interview between Prithirāj and Sūrajmall.—It will show the manners and feelings so peculiar to the Rajput, to describe the meeting between the rival uncle and nephew,—unique in the details of strife, perhaps, since the origin of man. It is taken from a MS. of the Jhala chief who succeeded Surajmall in Sadri. Prithiraj visited his uncle, whom he found in a small tent reclining on a pallet, having just had ‘the barber’ (nai) to sew up his wounds. He rose, and met his nephew with the customary respect, as if nothing unusual had occurred; but the exertion caused some of the wounds to open afresh, when the following dialogue ensued:

Prithiraj.—“Well, uncle, how are your wounds?”

Surajmall.—“Quite healed, my child, since I have the pleasure of seeing you” [297].

Prithiraj.—"But, uncle (kaka), I have not yet seen the Diwanji.[33]I first ran to see you, and I am very hungry; have you anything to eat?"

Dinner was soon served, and the extraordinary pair sat down and ‘ate off the same platter’;[34]nor did Prithiraj hesitate to eat the pan,[35]presented on his taking leave.

Prithiraj.—“You and I will end our battle in the morning, uncle.”

Surajmall.—“Very well, child; come early!”

They met; but Sarangdeo bore the brunt of the conflict, receiving thirty-five wounds. During “four gharis[36]swords and lances were plied, and every tribe of Rajput lost numbers that day”; but the rebels were defeated and fled to Sadri, and Prithiraj returned in triumph, though with seven wounds, to Chitor. The rebels, however, did not relinquish their designs, and many personal encounters took place between the uncle and nephew: the latter saying he would not let him retain “as much land of Mewar as would cover a needle’s point”; and Suja[37]retorting, that he would allow his nephew to redeem only as much “as would suffice to lie upon.” But Prithiraj gave them no rest, pursuing them from place to place. In the wilds of Batara they formed a stockaded retreat of the dhao tree,[38]which abounds in these forests. Within this shelter, horses and men were intermingled: Suja and his coadjutor communing by the night-fire in their desperate plight, when their cogitations were checked by the rush and neigh of horses. Scarcely had the pretender exclaimed “This must be my nephew!” when Prithiraj dashed his steed through the barricade and entered with his troops. All was confusion, and the sword showered its blows indiscriminately. The young prince reached his uncle, and dealt him a blow which would have levelled him, but for the support of Sarangdeo, who upbraided him, adding that “a buffet now was more than a score of wounds in former days”: to which Suja rejoined, “only when dealt by my nephew’s hand.” Suja demanded a parley; and calling on the prince to stop the combat, he continued: "If I am killed, it matters not—my children are Rajputs, they will run the [298] country to find support; but if you are slain, whatwill become of Chitor? My face will be blackened, and my name everlastingly reprobated."

The sword was sheathed, and as the uncle and nephew embraced, the latter asked the former, "What were you about, uncle, when I came?"—“Only talking nonsense, child, after dinner.” "But with me over your head, uncle, as a foe how could you be so negligent?"—“What could I do? you had left me no resource, and I must have some place to rest my head!” There was a small temple near the stockade, to which in the morning Prithiraj requested his uncle to accompany him to sacrifice to Kali,[39]but the blow of the preceding night prevented him. Sarangdeo was his proxy. One buffalo had fallen, and a goat was about to follow, when the prince turned his sword on Sarangdeo. The combat was desperate; but Prithiraj was the victor, and the head of the traitor was placed as an offering on the altar of Time. The Gaunda[40]was plundered, the town of Batara recovered, and Surajmall fled to Sadri, where he only stopped to fulfil his threat, “that if he could not retain its lands he would make them over to those stronger than the king”;[41]and having distributed them amongst Brahmans and bards, he finally abandoned Mewar. Passing through the wilds of Kanthal,[42]he had an omen which recalled the Charani’s prediction: “a wolf endeavouring in vain to carry off a kid defended by maternal affection.” This was interpreted as ‘strong ground for a dwelling.’ He halted, subdued the aboriginal tribes, and on this spot erected the town and stronghold of Deolia, becoming lord of a thousand villages, which have descended to his offspring, who now enjoy them under British protection. Such was the origin of Partabgarh Deolia.[43]

Prithirāj poisoned: Death of Rāna Rāemall.—Prithiraj was poisoned by his brother-in-law, of Abu, whom he had punished for maltreating his sister, and afterwards confided in. His death was soon followed by that of Rana Raemall, who, though not equal to his predecessors, was greatly respected, and maintained the dignity of his station amidst no ordinary calamities [299].[44]

Rāna Sanga or Sangrām Singh;A.D.1508-27.—Sangram, better known in the annals of Mewar as Sanga (called Sanka by the Mogul historians),[1]succeeded in S. 1565 (A.D.1509). With this prince Mewar reached the summit of her prosperity. To use their own metaphor, “he was the kalas[2]on the pinnacle of her glory.” From him we shall witness this glory on the wane; and though many rays of splendour illuminated her declining career, they served but to gild the ruin.

The imperial chair, since occupied by the Tuar descendant of the Pandus, and the first and last of the Chauhans, and which had been filled successively by the dynasties of Ghazni and Ghor, the Khilji and Lodi, was now shivered to pieces, and numerous petty thrones were constructed of its fragments. Mewar little dreaded these imperial puppets, “when Amurath to Amurath succeeded,” and when four kings reigned simultaneously between Delhi and Benares.[3]The kings of Malwa, though leagued with those of Gujarat, conjoined to the rebels, could make no impression on Mewar when Sanga led her heroes. Eighty thousand horse, seven Rajas of the highest rank, nine Raos, and one hundred and four chieftains bearing the titles of Rawal and Rawat, with five hundred war elephants, followed him into the field. The princes of Marwar and Amber[4]did him homage, and the Raos of GwaliorAjmer, Sikri, Raesen,[5]Kalpi, Chanderi [300], Bundi, Gagraun, Rampura, and Abu, served him as tributaries or held of him in chief.

Sanga did not forget those who sheltered him in his reverses. Karamchand of Srinagar had a grant of Ajmer and the title of Rao for his son Jagmall, the reward of his services in the reduction of Chanderi.

The Administration and Wars of Rāna Sanga.—In a short space of time, Sanga entirely allayed the disorders occasioned by the intestine feuds of his family; and were it permitted to speculate on the cause which prompted a temporary cession of his rights and his dignities to his more impetuous brother, it might be discerned in a spirit of forecast, and of fraternal and patriotic forbearance, a deviation from which would have endangered the country as well as the safety of his family. We may assume this, in order to account for an otherwise pusillanimous surrender of his birthright, and being in contrast to all the subsequent heroism of his life, which, when he resigned, was contained within the wreck of a form. Sanga organized his forces, with which he always kept the field, and ere called to contend with the descendant of Timur, he had gained eighteen pitched battles against the kings of Delhi and Malwa. In two of these he was opposed by Ibrahim Lodi in person, at Bakrol and Ghatoli, in which last battle the imperial forces were defeated with great slaughter, leaving a prisoner of the blood royal to grace the triumph of Chitor. The Pilakhal (yellow rivulet) near Bayana became the northern boundary of Mewar, with the Sind River to the east,—touching Malwa to the south, while his native hills were an impenetrable barrier to the west. Thus swaying, directly or by control, the greater part of Rajasthan, and adored by the Rajputs for the possession of those qualities they hold in estimation, Sanga was ascending to the pinnacle of distinction; and had not fresh hordes of Usbeks and Tatars from the prolific shores of the Oxus and Jaxartes again poured down on the devoted plainsof Hindustan, the crown of the Chakravartin[6]might again have encircled the brow of a Hindu, and the banner of supremacy been transferred from Indraprastha to the battlements of Chitor. But Babur arrived at a critical time to rally the dejected followers of the Koran, and to collect them around his own victorious standard.

Invasions from Central Asia.—From the earliest recorded periods of her history, India has been the prey of [301] the more hardy population from the central regions of Asia. From this fact we may infer another, namely, that its internal form of government was the same as at the present day, partitioned into numerous petty kingdoms, of tribes and clans, of a feudal federation, a prey to all the jealousies inseparable from such a condition. The historians of Alexander bear ample testimony to such form of government, when the Panjab alone possessed many sovereigns, besides the democracies of cities. The Persians overran it, and Darius the Mede accounted India the richest of his satrapies. The Greeks, the Parthians have left in their medals the best proofs of their power; the Getae or Yuti followed; and from the Ghori Shihabu-d-din to the Chagatai Babur, in less than three centuries, five invasions are recorded, each originating a dynasty. Sanga’s opponent was the last, and will continue so until the rays of knowledge renovate the ancient nursery of the human race,—then may end the anomaly in the history of power, of a handful of Britons holding the succession to the Mede, the Parthian, and the Tatar. But, however surprise may be excited at witnessing such rapidity of change, from the physical superiority of man over man, it is immeasurably heightened at the little moral consequence which in every other region of the world has always attended such concussions. Creeds have changed, races have mingled, and names have been effaced from the page of history; but in this corner of civilization we have no such result, and the Rajput remains the same singular being, concentrated in his prejudices, political and moral, as in the days of Alexander, desiring no change himself, and still less to cause any in others. Whatever be the conservative principle, it merits a philosophic analysis; but more, a proper application and direction, by those to whom the destinies of this portion of the globe are confided;for in this remote spot there is a nucleus of energy, on which may accumulate a mass for our support or our destruction.

To return: a descendant of the Turushka of the Jaxartes, the ancient foe of the children of Surya and Chandra, was destined to fulfil the prophetic Purana which foretold dominion “to the Turushka, the Yavan,” and other foreign races in Hind; and the conquered made a right application of the term Turk, both as regards its ancient and modern signification, when applied to the conquerors from Turkistan. Babur, the opponent of Sanga, was king of Ferghana, and of Turki race. His dominions were on both sides the Jaxartes, a portion of ancient [302] Sakatai, or Sakadwipa (Scythia), where dwelt Tomyris the Getic queen immortalized by Herodotus, and where her opponent erected Cyropolis, as did in after-times the Macedonian his most remote Alexandria. From this region did the same Getae, Jat, or Yuti, issue, to the destruction of Bactria, two centuries before the Christian era, and also five subsequent thereto to found a kingdom in Northern India. Again, one thousand years later, Babur issued with his bands to the final subjugation of India. As affecting India alone, this portion of the globe merits deep attention; but as theofficina gentium, whence issued those hordes of Asii, Jats, or Yeuts (of whom the Angles were a branch), who peopled the shores of the Baltic, and the precursors of those Goths who, under Attila and Alaric, altered the condition of Europe, its importance is vastly enhanced.[7]But on this occasion it was not redundant population which made the descendant of Timur and Jenghiz abandon the Jaxartes for the Ganges, but unsuccessful ambition: for Babur quitted the delights of Samarkand as a fugitive, and commenced his enterprise, which gave him the throne of the Pandus, with less than two thousand adherents.

Character of Bābur.—The Rajput prince had a worthy antagonist in the king of Ferghana. Like Sanga, he was trained in the school of adversity, and like him, though his acts of personal heroism were even romantic, he tempered it with that discretion which looks to its results. InA.D.1494, at the tender age of twelve, he succeeded to a kingdom; ere he was sixteen he defeated several confederacies and conquered Samarkand, and in two short years again lost and regained it. His life was a tissueof successes and reverses; at one moment hailed lord of the chief kingdoms of Transoxiana; at another flying, unattended, or putting all to hazard in desperate single combats, in one of which he slew five champions of his enemies. Driven at length from Ferghana, in despair he crossed the Hindu-Kush, and in 1519 the Indus. Between the Panjab and Kabul he lingered seven years, ere he advanced to measure his sword with Ibrahim of Delhi. Fortune returned to his standard; Ibrahim was slain, his army routed and dispersed, and Delhi and Agra opened their gates to the fugitive king of Ferghana. His reflections on success evince it was his due: “Not to me, O God! but to thee, be the victory!” says the chivalrous Babur. A year had elapsed in possession of Delhi, ere he ventured against the most powerful of his antagonists, Rana Sanga of Chitor.

RUINS OF THE FORTRESS OF BAYĀNA.To face page 352.

With all Babur’s qualities as a soldier, supported by the hardy clans of the ‘cloud mountains’ (Belut Tagh) [303] of Karateghin,[8]the chances were many that he and they terminated their career on the ‘yellow rivulet’ of Bayana. Neither bravery nor skill saved him from this fate, which he appears to have expected. What better proof can be desired than Babur’s own testimony to the fact, that a horde of invaders from the Jaxartes, without support or retreat, were obliged to entrench themselves to the teeth in the face of their Rajput foe, alike brave and overpowering in numbers? To ancient jealousies he was indebted for not losing his life instead of gaining a crown, and for being extricated from a condition so desperate that even the frenzy of religion, which made death martyrdom in “this holy war,” scarcely availed to expel the despair which so infected his followers, that in the bitterness of his heart he says “there was not a single person who uttered a manly word, nor an individual who delivered a courageous opinion.”

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