41. The privileges of our Rajput chieftains on the marriages of their vassals and cultivating subjects are confined to the best dishes of the marriage feast or a pecuniary commutation. This is, however, though in a minor degree, one of the vexatious claims of feudality of the French system, known under the termnoçages, where the seigneur or his deputy presided, and had the right to be placed in front of the bride,“et de chanter à la fin du répas, une chanson guillerette.”But they even carried their insolence further, and"poussèrent leur mépris pour les villains(the agricultural classes of the Rajput system)jusqu’à exiger que leurs chiens eussentleur couvertauprès de la mariée, et qu’on les laissât manger sur la table" (Art. ‘Noçages,’Dict. de l’anc. Régime).
41. The privileges of our Rajput chieftains on the marriages of their vassals and cultivating subjects are confined to the best dishes of the marriage feast or a pecuniary commutation. This is, however, though in a minor degree, one of the vexatious claims of feudality of the French system, known under the termnoçages, where the seigneur or his deputy presided, and had the right to be placed in front of the bride,“et de chanter à la fin du répas, une chanson guillerette.”But they even carried their insolence further, and"poussèrent leur mépris pour les villains(the agricultural classes of the Rajput system)jusqu’à exiger que leurs chiens eussentleur couvertauprès de la mariée, et qu’on les laissât manger sur la table" (Art. ‘Noçages,’Dict. de l’anc. Régime).
42. December.
42. December.
43. The Raja of Kotah.
43. The Raja of Kotah.
44. Commander of the forces and regent of Kotah.
44. Commander of the forces and regent of Kotah.
45. Officers of the land revenue.
45. Officers of the land revenue.
46. Land accountants.
46. Land accountants.
47. The mercantile class.
47. The mercantile class.
48. Literally ‘good behaviour.’
48. Literally ‘good behaviour.’
49. An agricultural tax.
49. An agricultural tax.
50. Tax for registering.
50. Tax for registering.
51. This includes in one word the forced labour exacted from the working classes: thecorvéeof the French system.
51. This includes in one word the forced labour exacted from the working classes: thecorvéeof the French system.
52. Grain thrown on the inhabitants at an arbitrary rate; often resorted to at Kotah, where the regent is farmer general.
52. Grain thrown on the inhabitants at an arbitrary rate; often resorted to at Kotah, where the regent is farmer general.
53. Grain, the property of the government, thrown on the inhabitants for purchase at an arbitrary valuation.
53. Grain, the property of the government, thrown on the inhabitants for purchase at an arbitrary valuation.
54. The handful from each sheaf at harvest.
54. The handful from each sheaf at harvest.
55. A day sacred to the Hindu, being that which divides the month.
55. A day sacred to the Hindu, being that which divides the month.
56. Meaning, they shall not irrigate the fields.
56. Meaning, they shall not irrigate the fields.
57. This part of the edict is evidently the instigation of the Jains, to prevent the destruction of life, though only that of insects.
57. This part of the edict is evidently the instigation of the Jains, to prevent the destruction of life, though only that of insects.
58. The cause of this sumptuary edict was a benevolent motive, and to prevent the expenses on these occasions falling too heavily on the poorer classes. It was customary for the women to carry away under their petticoats (ghaghra) sufficient sweetmeats for several days’ consumption. The great Jai Singh of Amber had an ordinance restricting the number of guests to fifty-one on these occasions, and prohibited to all but the four wealthy classes the use of sugar-candy: the others were confined to the use of molasses and brown sugar. To the lower vassals and the cultivators these feasts were limited to the coarser fare; to juar flour, greens and oil. A dyer who on the Holi feasted his friends with sweetmeats of fine sugar and scattered about balls made of brown sugar, was fined five thousand rupees for setting so pernicious an example. Thesadh, or marriage present, from the bridegroom to the bride’s father, was limited to fifty-one rupees. The great sums previously paid on this score were preventives of matrimony. Many other wholesome regulations of a much more important kind, especially those for the suppression of infanticide, were instituted by this prince.
58. The cause of this sumptuary edict was a benevolent motive, and to prevent the expenses on these occasions falling too heavily on the poorer classes. It was customary for the women to carry away under their petticoats (ghaghra) sufficient sweetmeats for several days’ consumption. The great Jai Singh of Amber had an ordinance restricting the number of guests to fifty-one on these occasions, and prohibited to all but the four wealthy classes the use of sugar-candy: the others were confined to the use of molasses and brown sugar. To the lower vassals and the cultivators these feasts were limited to the coarser fare; to juar flour, greens and oil. A dyer who on the Holi feasted his friends with sweetmeats of fine sugar and scattered about balls made of brown sugar, was fined five thousand rupees for setting so pernicious an example. Thesadh, or marriage present, from the bridegroom to the bride’s father, was limited to fifty-one rupees. The great sums previously paid on this score were preventives of matrimony. Many other wholesome regulations of a much more important kind, especially those for the suppression of infanticide, were instituted by this prince.
59. ‘Defence against the cold weather’ (si). This in the ancient French régime came under the denomination of“Albergieou Hébergement, un droit royal. Par exemple, ce ne fut qu’après le règne de Saint Louis, et moyennant finances, que les habitans de Paris et de Corbeil s’affranchirent, les premiers de fournir au roi et à sa suite de bons oreillers et d’excellens lits de plumes, tant qu’il séjournait dans leur ville, et les seconds de le régaler quandililpassait par leur bourg.”
59. ‘Defence against the cold weather’ (si). This in the ancient French régime came under the denomination of“Albergieou Hébergement, un droit royal. Par exemple, ce ne fut qu’après le règne de Saint Louis, et moyennant finances, que les habitans de Paris et de Corbeil s’affranchirent, les premiers de fournir au roi et à sa suite de bons oreillers et d’excellens lits de plumes, tant qu’il séjournait dans leur ville, et les seconds de le régaler quandililpassait par leur bourg.”
60. The ‘Daurayat’ or runners, the term applied to the bands who swept the country with their forays in those periods of general confusion, are analogous to the armed bands of the Middle Ages, who in a similar manner desolated Europe under the termroutiers, tantamount to ourrabars(on the road), thelabarsof the Pindaris in India. The Rajput Daurayat has as many epithets as the Frenchroutier, who were calledescorcheurs,tard veneurs(of which class Gopaldas appears to have been),mille-diables,Guilleries, etc. From the Crusades to the sixteenth century, the nobles of Europe, of whom these bands were composed (like our Rajputs), abandoned themselves to this sort of life; who, to use the words of the historian,“préférèrent la vie vagabonde à laquelle ils s’étoient accoutumés dans le camp, à retourner cultiver leurs champs. C’est alors que se formèrent ces bandes qu’on vit parcourir le royaume et étendre sur toutes les provinces le fléau de leurs inclinations destructives, répandre partout l’effroi, la misère, le deuil et le désespoir; mettre les villes à contribution, piller et incendier les villages, égorger les laboureurs, et se livrer à des accès de cruauté qui font frémir” (Dict. de l’ancien régime et des abus féodaux, art. ‘Routier,’ p. 422).We have this apology for the Rajputroutiers, that the nobles of Europe had not; they were driven to it by perpetual aggressions of invaders. I invariably found that the reformedroutierwas one of the best subjects: it secured him from indolence, the parent of all Rajput vices.
60. The ‘Daurayat’ or runners, the term applied to the bands who swept the country with their forays in those periods of general confusion, are analogous to the armed bands of the Middle Ages, who in a similar manner desolated Europe under the termroutiers, tantamount to ourrabars(on the road), thelabarsof the Pindaris in India. The Rajput Daurayat has as many epithets as the Frenchroutier, who were calledescorcheurs,tard veneurs(of which class Gopaldas appears to have been),mille-diables,Guilleries, etc. From the Crusades to the sixteenth century, the nobles of Europe, of whom these bands were composed (like our Rajputs), abandoned themselves to this sort of life; who, to use the words of the historian,“préférèrent la vie vagabonde à laquelle ils s’étoient accoutumés dans le camp, à retourner cultiver leurs champs. C’est alors que se formèrent ces bandes qu’on vit parcourir le royaume et étendre sur toutes les provinces le fléau de leurs inclinations destructives, répandre partout l’effroi, la misère, le deuil et le désespoir; mettre les villes à contribution, piller et incendier les villages, égorger les laboureurs, et se livrer à des accès de cruauté qui font frémir” (Dict. de l’ancien régime et des abus féodaux, art. ‘Routier,’ p. 422).
We have this apology for the Rajputroutiers, that the nobles of Europe had not; they were driven to it by perpetual aggressions of invaders. I invariably found that the reformedroutierwas one of the best subjects: it secured him from indolence, the parent of all Rajput vices.
61.Mund, ‘the head’;kati, ‘cut.’
61.Mund, ‘the head’;kati, ‘cut.’
62. [The double jasmine,Jasminum sambac.]
62. [The double jasmine,Jasminum sambac.]
63. The rebellion broke out during the reign of this prince.
63. The rebellion broke out during the reign of this prince.
64. Salvamenta.
64. Salvamenta.
65. Dues.
65. Dues.
66. Transit duty.
66. Transit duty.
67. Ditto.
67. Ditto.
68. Different descriptions of thieves. [The Moghias are settled principally in E. Mewār; if not identical with, they are closely allied to, the Bāori (Luard,Ethnographic Survey, Central India, App. V. 17 ff.). Gen. C. Hervey (Some Records of Crime, i. 386 ff.) makes frequent references to dacoities committed by them from their headquarters, Nīmach. The Bāori or Bāwariya are a notorious criminal tribe (Rose,Glossary, ii. 70 ff.; M. Kennedy,Notes on Criminal Classes in Bombay Presidency, 173 ff., 198 ff.). The Thori in Mārwār claim Rājput origin, and are connected with the Aheri, or nomad hunters (Census Report, Mārwār, 1891, ii. 194). According to Rose (op. cit.iii. 466) those in the Panjāb are rather vagrants than actual criminals.]
68. Different descriptions of thieves. [The Moghias are settled principally in E. Mewār; if not identical with, they are closely allied to, the Bāori (Luard,Ethnographic Survey, Central India, App. V. 17 ff.). Gen. C. Hervey (Some Records of Crime, i. 386 ff.) makes frequent references to dacoities committed by them from their headquarters, Nīmach. The Bāori or Bāwariya are a notorious criminal tribe (Rose,Glossary, ii. 70 ff.; M. Kennedy,Notes on Criminal Classes in Bombay Presidency, 173 ff., 198 ff.). The Thori in Mārwār claim Rājput origin, and are connected with the Aheri, or nomad hunters (Census Report, Mārwār, 1891, ii. 194). According to Rose (op. cit.iii. 466) those in the Panjāb are rather vagrants than actual criminals.]
69. Caravans of merchandise, whether on camels, bullocks, or in carts.
69. Caravans of merchandise, whether on camels, bullocks, or in carts.
70. Caravans of bullocks, chiefly for the transport of grain and salt.
70. Caravans of bullocks, chiefly for the transport of grain and salt.
71. On this festival the muster of all the feudal retainers is taken by the Rana in person, and honorary dresses and dignities are bestowed.
71. On this festival the muster of all the feudal retainers is taken by the Rana in person, and honorary dresses and dignities are bestowed.
72. This article had become especially necessary, as the inferior chiefs, particularly those of the third class, had amalgamated themselves with the head of their clans, to whom they had become more accountable than to their prince.
72. This article had become especially necessary, as the inferior chiefs, particularly those of the third class, had amalgamated themselves with the head of their clans, to whom they had become more accountable than to their prince.
73. This alludes to the treaty which this chief had formed, as the ambassador of the Rana, with the British Government.
73. This alludes to the treaty which this chief had formed, as the ambassador of the Rana, with the British Government.