Chapter 45

Breach between the Rājputs and the Mughal Empire.—It is important to study the events of this period, which involved the overthrow of the Mogul power, and originated that form of society which paved the way to the dominion of Britain in these distant regions. From such a review a political lesson of great value may be learned, which will show a beacon warning us against the danger of trusting to mere physical power, unaidedby the latent, but more durable support of moral influence. When Aurangzeb neglected the indigenous Rajputs, he endangered the keystone of his power; and in despising opinion, though his energetic mind might for a time render him independent of it, yet long before his death the enormous fabric reared by Akbar was tottering to its foundation: demonstrating to conviction that the highest order of talent, either for government or war, though aided by unlimited resources, will not suffice for the maintenance of power, unsupported by the affections of the governed. The empire of Aurangzeb was more extensive than that of Britain at this day—the elements of stability were incomparably more tenacious: he was associated with the Rajputs by blood, which seemed to guarantee a respect for their opinions; he possessed the power of distributing the honours and emoluments of the state, when a service could be rewarded by a province,[10]drawing at will supplies of warriors from the mountains of the west, as a check on his indigenous subjects, while these left the plains of India to control the Afghan amidst the snows of Caucasus. But the most devoted attachment and most faithful service were repaid by insults to their habits, and the imposition of an obnoxious tax; and to the jizya, and the unwise pertinacity with which his successors adhered to it, must be directly ascribed the overthrow of the monarchy. No condition was exempted from this odious and impolitic assessment, which was deemed by the tyrant a mild substitute for the conversion he once meditated of the entire Hindu race to the creed of Islam.[11]

Rājput Apostates.—An abandonment of their faith was the Rajput’s surest road to the tyrant’s favour [397], and an instance of this dereliction in its consequences powerfully contributed to the annihilation of the empire. Rao Gopal, a branch of the Rana’s family, held the fief of Rampura, on the Chambal,[12]and was serving with a select quota of his clan in the wars of the Deccan, when his son, who had been left at home, withheld the revenues, which he applied to his own use instead of remitting them to his father. Rao Gopal complained to the emperor; but the son discovered that he could by a sacrifice not only appease Aurangzeb, but attain the object of his wishes: he apostatized from his faith, and obtained the emperor’s forgiveness, with the domain of Rampura. Disgusted and provoked at such infurious conduct, Rao Gopal fled the camp, made an unsuccessful attempt to redeem his estate, and took refuge with Rana Amra, his suzerain. This natural asylum granted to a chief of his own kin was construed by the tyrant into a signal of revolt, and Azam was ordered to Malwa to watch the Rana’s motions: conduct thus characterized in the memoirs of a Rajput chieftain,[13]one of the most devoted to Aurangzeb, and who died fighting for his son. “The emperor showed but little favour to his faithful and most useful subjects the Rajputs, which greatly cooled their ardour in his service.” The Rana took up arms, and Malwa joined the tumult; while the first irruption of the Mahrattas across the Nerbudda,[14]under Nima Sindhia, compelled the emperor to detach Raja Jai Singh to join Prince Azam. Amidst these accumulated troubles, the Mahrattas rising into importance, the Rajput feudatories disgusted and alienated, his sons and grandsons ready to commit each individual pretension to the decision of the sword, did Aurangzeb, after a reign of terror of half a century’s duration, breathe his last on the 28th Zilqa’da,A.D.1707 [February 21], at the city bearing his name—Aurangabad.

Shāh Alam Bahādur Shāh, Emperor,A.D.1707-12.—At his death his second son Azam assumed the imperial dignity, and aided by the Rajput princes of Datia and Kotah,[15]who had always served in his division, he marched to Agra to contest the legitimate claims of his eldest brother Muazzam, who was advancing from Kabul supported by the contingents of Mewar and Marwar, and all western Rajwara. The battle of Jajau[16][398] was fatal to Azam, who with his son Bedarbakht and the princes of Kotah and Datia was slain, when Muazzam ascended the throne under the title of Shah Alam Bahadur Shah. This prince had many qualities which endeared him to the Rajputs, to whom his sympathies were united by the ties of blood, his mother being a Rajput princess.[17]Had he immediately succeeded the beneficent Shah Jahan, the race of Timur, in all human probability, would have been still enthroned at Delhi, and might have presented a picture of one of the most powerful monarchies of Asia. But Aurangzeb had inflicted an incurable wound on the mind of the Hindu race, which for ever estranged them from his successors; nor were the virtues of Bahadur, during the short lustre of his sway, capable of healing it. The bitter fruit of a long experience had taught the Rajputs not to hope for amelioration from any graft of that stem, which, like the deadly Upas, had stifled the vital energies of Rajasthan, whose leaders accordingly formed a league for mutual preservation, which it would have been madness to dissolve merely because a fair portion of virtue was the inheritance of the tyrant’s successor. They had proved that no act of duty or subserviency could guarantee them from the infatuated abuse of power, and they were at length steeled against every appeal to their loyalty, replying with a trite adage, which we may translate ‘quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat,’—of common application with the Rajput in such a predicament.

The Rise of the Sikhs.—The emperor was soon made to perceive the little support he had in future to expect from the Rajputs. Scarcely had he quashed the pretensions of Kambakhsh, his youngest brother, who proclaimed himself emperor in the Deccan, than he was forced to the north, in consequence of an insurrectionof the Sikhs of Lahore. This singular race, the disciples (sikhs) of a teacher called Nanak, were the descendants of the Scythic Getae,[18]or Jat, of Transoxiana, who so early as the fifth century were established in the tract watered by the five arms (Panjab) of the Indus. Little more than a century has elapsed since their conversion from a spurious Hinduism to the doctrines of the sectarian Nanak, and their first attempt to separate themselves, in temporal as well as spiritual matters, from all control, and they are now the sole independent power within the limits [399] of the Mogul monarchy. On this occasion[19]the princes of Amber and Marwar visited the emperor, but left his camp without permission, and, as the historian[20]adds, manifested a design to struggle for independence. Such was the change in their mutual circumstances that the Mogul sent the heir-apparent to conciliate and conduct them to him; but they came at the head of all their native bands, when “they were gratified with whatever their insolence demanded”:[21]a splenetic effusion of the historian, which well paints their altered position. From the royalurdu,[22]or camp, they repaired to Rana Amra at Udaipur, where a triple league was formed, which once more united them to the head of their nation. This treaty of unity of interests against the common foe was solemnized by nuptial engagements, from which those princes had been excluded since the reigns of Akbar and Partap. To be readmitted to this honour was the basis of this triple alliance, in which they ratified on oath the renunciation of all connexion, domestic or political, with the empire. It was, moreover, stipulated that the sons of such marriage should be heirs, or if the issue were females, that they should never be dishonoured by being married to a Mogul.

Sacrifice of the Right of Primogeniture.—But this remedy, as will be seen, originated a worse disease; it was a sacrifice of the rights of primogeniture (clung to by the Rajputs with extreme pertinacity), productive of the most injurious effects, whichintroduced domestic strife, and called upon the stage an umpire not less baneful than the power from whose iron grasp they were on the point of freeing themselves: for although this treaty laid prostrate the throne of Babur, it ultimately introduced the Mahrattas as partisans in their family disputes, who made the bone of contention their own.

The injudicious support afforded by the emperor to the apostate chief of Rampura first brought the triple federation into action. The Rana, upholding the cause of Himmat Singh, made an attack on Rampura, which the apostate usurper Ratan Singh, now Raj Muslim Khan, defeated, and was rewarded for [400] it by the emperor.[23]But the same report conveyed to the king “that the Rana determined to lay waste his country, and retire to the hills,”[24]which was speedily confirmed by the unwelcome intelligence that Sawaldas, an officer of the Rana’s, had attacked Firoz Khan, the governor of Pur Mandal, who was obliged to retreat with great loss to Ajmer;[25]on which occasion this loyal descendant of the illustrious Jaimall lost his life.[26]The brave Durgadas, who conveyed the rebellious Akbar through all opposition to a place of refuge, again appeared upon the stage—his own prince being unable to protect him, he had found a safe asylum at Udaipur, and had the sum of five hundred rupees daily paid for his expenditure—a princely liberality. But the result of this combination was reserved for the following reigns, Shah Alam being carried off by poison,[27]ere he could correct the disorders which were rapidly breaking up the empire from the Hindu-Kush to the ocean. Had his life been spared, his talents for business, his experience, and courteous manners might have retarded the ruin of the monarchy, which the utter unworthiness of his successor sunk beyond the power of man to redeem. Everysubsequent succession was through blood; and the sons of Shah Alam performed the part for which they had so many great examples. Two brothers,[28]Sayyids, from the town of Barha in the Duab, were long the Warwicks of Hindustan, setting up and plucking down its puppet kings at their pleasure; they had elevated Farrukhsiyar when the triumvirs of Rajasthan commenced their operations.

Farrukhsīyar, Emperor,A.D.1712-19.—Giving loose to long-suppressed resentment, the Rajputs abandoned the spirit of toleration which it would have been criminal to preserve; and profiting by the lessons of their tyrants, they overthrew the mosques built on the sites of their altars, and treated the civil and religious officers of the government with indignity. Of these every town in Rajasthan had itsmullato proclaim the name of Muhammad, and itskazifor the administration of justice,—branches of government [401] entirely wrested from the hands of the native princes,[29]abusing the name of independence. But for a moment it was redeemed, especially by the brave Rathors, who had made a noble resistance, contesting every foot of land since the death of Jaswant Singh, and now his son Ajit entirely expelled the Moguls from Marwar. On this occasion the native forces of the triple alliance met at the salt lake of Sambhar, which was made the common boundary of their territory, and its revenues were equally divided amongst them.

The pageant of an emperor, guided by the Sayyids, or those who intrigued to supplant their ministry, made an effort to oppose the threatening measures of the Rajputs; and one of them, the Amiru-l-umara,[30]marched against Raja Ajit, who received private instructions from the emperor to resist his commander-in-chief, whose credit was strengthened by the means taken to weaken it, which engendered suspicions of treachery. Ajit leagued with the Sayyids, who held out to the Rathor an important share of power at court, and agreed to pay tribute and give a daughter in marriage to Farrukhsiyar.

Marriage of Farrukhsīyar: Grant to the British.—This marriage yielded most important results, which were not confined to the Moguls or Rajputs, for to it may be ascribed the rise of the British power in India. A dangerous malady,[31]rendering necessary a surgical operation upon Farrukhsiyar, to which the faculty of the court were unequal, retarded the celebration of the nuptials between the emperor and the Rajput princess of Marwar, and even threatened a fatal termination. A mission from the British merchants at Surat was at that time at court, and, as a last resource, the surgeon attached to it was called in, who cured the malady, and made the emperor happy in his bride.[32]His gratitude was displayed with oriental magnificence. The emperor desired Mr. Hamilton to name [402] his reward, and to the disinterested patriotism of this individual did the British owe the first royal grant or farman, conferring territorial possession and great commercial privileges. These were the objects of the mission, which till this occurrence had proved unsuccessful.

This gorgeous court ought to have been, and probably was, impressed with a high opinion of the virtuous self-denial of the inhabitants of Britain; and if history has correctly preserved the transaction, some mark of public gratitude should have been forthcoming from those who so signally benefited thereby. But to borrow the phraseology of the Italian historian, “Obligations which do not admit of being fully discharged are often repaid with the coin of ingratitude”: the remains of this man rest in the churchyard of Calcutta, without even a stone to mark the spot![33]

The Jizya Reimposed.—This marriage, which promised a renewal of interests with the Rajputs, was soon followed by the revival of the obnoxious jizya. The character of this tax, though much altered from its original imposition by Aurangzeb, when it was at once financial and religious, was held in unmitigated abhorrence by the Hindus from the complex association; and although it was revived chiefly to relieve pecuniary wants, it kindled a universal feeling of hatred amongst all classes, and quenched the little zeal which the recent marriage had inspired in the Rajputs of the desert. The mode and channel of its introduction evinced to them that there was no hope that the intolerant spirit which originally suggested it would ever be subdued. The weak Farrukhsiyar, desirous of snapping the leading-strings of the Sayyids, recalled to his court Inayatu-lla Khan,[34]the minister of Aurangzeb, and restored to him his office of Diwan, who, to use the words of the historian of the period, "did not consult the temper of the times, so very different from the reign of Aurangzeb, and the revival of thejizyacame with him." Though by no means severe in its operation, not amounting to three-quarters per cent on annual income,[35]—from which the lame, the blind, and very poor were exempt,—it nevertheless raised a general spirit of hostility, particularly from its retaining the insulting distinction of a ‘tax on infidels.’ Resistance to taxation appears to be a universal feeling, in which even the Asiatic forgets the divine right of sovereignty, and which throws us back on the pervading spirit of selfishness which [403] governs human nature. Thetamgha,[36]or stamp tax, which preceded thejizya, would appear to have been as unsatisfactory as it was general, from the solemnity of its renunciation by Babur on the field of battle after the victory over infidels, which gave him the crown of India; and though we have no record of the jizya being its substitute, there are indications which authorize the inference.

Rāna Amar Singh asserts Rājput Independence.—Rana Amra was not an idle spectator of these occurrences; and although the spurious thirst for distinction so early broke up the alliance by detaching Ajit, he redoubled his efforts for personal independence, and with it that of the Rajput nation. An important document attests this solicitude, namely, a treaty[37]with the emperor, in which the second article stipulates emancipation from the gallingjizya.It may be well to analyse this treaty, which attests thealtered condition of both parties. Its very title marks the subordination of the chief of the Rajputs; but while this is headed a ‘Memorandum of Requests,’ the eighth article discloses the effective means of the Rana, for there he assumes an air of protection towards the emperor. In the opening stipulation for themansabof 7000, the [404] mind reverts to the great Amra, who preferred abdication to acknowledgment of a superior; but opinion had undergone a change as great as the mutual relations of the Rajputs. In temporal dignities other States had risen to an equality with Mewar, and all had learned to look on the Mogul as the fountain of honour. The abolition of the jizya, freedom from religious restraint, control over the ancient feudatories of his house, and the restoration of all sequestrations, distinguish the other articles, and amply attest the improving attitude of Mewar, and the rapid decay of the Mogul empire. The Mahrattas under Raja Sahu[38]were successfully prosecuting their peculiar system in the south, with the same feelings which characterized the early Gothic invaders of Italy; strangers to settled government, they imposed the taxes ofchauthanddesmukhi,[39]thefourthandtenthof all territorial income, in the countries they overran. The Jat tribes west of the Chambal likewise bearded their oppressors in this reign, by hoisting the standard of independence at the very threshold of their capital; and from the siege of Sinsini (mentioned in this treaty) to the last storm of Bharatpur, they maintained the consequence thus assumed.

Death of Rāna Amar Singh.—This treaty was the last act of Rana Amra’s life; he died inA.D.1716 [1710], leaving the reputation of an active and high-minded prince, who well upheld his station and the prosperity of his country, notwithstanding the anarchy of the period. His encouragement of agriculture and protection of manufactures are displayed in the edicts engraved on pillars, which will hand down his name to posterity. His memory is held in high veneration; nor do the Rajputs admit the absolute degradation of Mewar till the period of the second prince in succession to Amra [405].

1. ‘The Cushion,’ by which a Rajput throne is designated.

2. [Dūb,Cynodon dactylon, the most common and useful Indian grass (Watt,Comm. Prod., 463 f).]

3.Gaddi ki an.

4. I give these anecdotes as related to me by his descendant and representative the Raja of Banera, while seated in a balcony of his castle overlooking the plains of Mewar. Often have I quenched my thirst at the fountain, and listened to their traditionary tales. It is a spot consecrated to recollections: every altar which rises around it is a text for the ‘great ancients’ of the clans to expatiate on; and it is, moreover, a grand place of rendezvous, whether for the traveller or sportsman. Bhim dislocated his spine in a feat of strength. He was celebrated for activity, and could, while his steed was urged to his speed, disengage and suspend himself by the arms from the bough of a tree; and to one of these experiments he owed his death.

5. [The Bhojpur lake, which covered an area of 250 square miles, was much larger, the Jaisamund covering only 21 square miles (Smith,EHI, 396; Erskine ii. A. 8 f.).]

6. [Pancholi, Panchauli, of which the derivation is uncertain, perhapspancha-kula, ‘five houses,’ is the local title of the Desi or Māthur Kāyasths, or writer caste (Census Report Mārwār, 1891, ii. 111).]

7. Beri Sal of Bijolia, Kandal of Salumbar, Gopinath of Ghanerao, and the Solanki of Desuri.

8. "Private Treaty between the Rana and Shah Alam Bahadur Shah, and bearing his sign-manual."Six articles of engagement, just, and tending to the happiness of the people, have been submitted by you, and by me accepted, and with God’s blessing shall be executed without deviation—"1. The re-establishment of Chitor as in the time of Shah Jahan."2. Prohibition of kine-killing.[A]"3. The restoration of all the districts held in the reign of Shah Jahan."4. Freedom of faith and religious worship, as during the government of him whosenest is Paradise(Akbar)."5. Whoever shall be dismissed by you shall receive no countenance from the king.“6. The abrogation of the contingent for the service of the Deccan.”[B]

8. "Private Treaty between the Rana and Shah Alam Bahadur Shah, and bearing his sign-manual.

"Six articles of engagement, just, and tending to the happiness of the people, have been submitted by you, and by me accepted, and with God’s blessing shall be executed without deviation—

"1. The re-establishment of Chitor as in the time of Shah Jahan.

"2. Prohibition of kine-killing.[A]

"3. The restoration of all the districts held in the reign of Shah Jahan.

"4. Freedom of faith and religious worship, as during the government of him whosenest is Paradise(Akbar).

"5. Whoever shall be dismissed by you shall receive no countenance from the king.

“6. The abrogation of the contingent for the service of the Deccan.”[B]

A. From the second of these articles, which alternate between stipulations of a temporal and spiritual nature, we may draw a lesson of great political importance. In all the treaties which have come under my observation, the insertion of an article against the slaughter of kine was prominent. This sacrifice to their national prejudices was the subject of discussion with every ambassador when the States of Rajasthan formed engagements with the British Government in 1817-18, “the prohibition of kine-killing within their respective limits.” From the construction of our armies we could not guarantee this article, but assurances were given that every practical attention would be paid to their wishes; and kine are not absolutely slain within the jurisdiction of any of these Rajput princes. But even long habit, though it has familiarized, has not reconciled them to this revolting sacrifice; nor would the kine-killer in Mewar be looked upon with less detestation than was Cambyses by the Egyptians, when he thrust his lance into the flank of Apis. But in time this will be overlooked, and the verbal assurance will become a dead letter; men of good intention will be lulled into the belief that, because not openly combated, the prejudice is extinct, and that homage to our power has obliterated this article of their creed. Thus Aurangzeb thought, but he avowedly and boldly opposed the religious opinions of his tributaries; we only hold them in contempt, and even protect them when productive of no sacrifice. Yet if we look back on the early page of history, we shall find both policy and benevolence combined to form this legislative protection to one of the most useful of domestic animals, and which would tempt the belief that Triptolemus, the lawgiver of Sparta, had borrowed from Manu [Laws, xi. 60, 69, 71], or rather from the still greater friends of dumb creatures, the Jains, in the law which exempted not only the lordly bull from the knife, but “every living thing.”

B. The Mewar contingent had been serving under Azam in the south, as the following letter from him to the Rana discloses:—“Be it known to Rana Amra Singh, your arzi [petition] arrived, and the accounts of your mother gave me great grief, but against the decrees of God there is no struggling. Pray for my welfare. Raja Rae Singh made a request for you; you are my own; rest in full confidence and continue in your obedience. The lands of your illustrious ancestors shall all be yours—but this is the time to evince your duty—the rest learn from your own servants—continue to think of me.”“Your Rajputs have behaved well.”

“Your Rajputs have behaved well.”

9. It consisted of twenty-twoNakkarabandchiefs,i.e.each entitled to a kettle-drum, and fifteenTurais, or chiefs, entitled to brass trumpets. ["As a mark of favour, kettle-drums (naqqārah) and the right to play them (naubat) might be granted to a subject, but he must be a man of the rank of 2000 sawār (troopers) or upwards. As an invariable condition, however, it was stipulated they should not be used when the Emperor was present, or within a certain distance from his residence" (Irvine,Army of the Indian Moghuls, 30, 208 f.).]

10. In lieu of all, what reward does Britain hold out to the native population to be attached? Heavy duties exclude many products of their industry from the home market. The rates of pay to civil officers afford no security to integrity; and the faithful soldier cannot aspire to higher reward than £120 per annum, were his breast studded with medals. Even their prejudices are often too little considered, prejudices, the violation of which lost the throne of India, in spite of every local advantage, to the descendants of Aurangzeb.

11. [Jizya, meaning ‘tribute,’ was a capitation tax imposed on subjects (zimmi) who did not follow the state religion, Islām. Its hardship lay in the fact that it was additional to, and about the same amount as the revenue demand, the latter being thus nearly doubled. Great merchants in the time of Aurangzeb paid Rs. 13.8; the middle class Rs. 6.12; the poor Rs. 3.8 per annum per head (Manucci ii. 234). On theJizyasee Hughes,Dict. Islām, 248; Smith,Akbar the Great Mogul, 65 f.; Keene,Turks in India, 153 ff.; Grant Duff,Hist. of the Mahrattas, 145; Jadunath Sarkar,Life of Aurangzib, iii. 305 ff.]

12. Rampura Bhanpura (city of the sun) to distinguish it from RampuraTonk. Rao Gopal was of the Chandarawat clan. See note, p. 306.

13. Rao Dalpat Bundela of Datia, a portion of whose memoirs were presented to me by the reigning prince, his descendant.

14.A.D.1706-7. [The Mahrattas crossed the Nerbudda in 1705 (Grant Duff,Hist. Mahrattas, 177; Malcolm,Memoir Central India, i. 58 ff.). The latter remarks that they came to attack the government, not the people, and acted with the concurrence of the Hindu chiefs discontented with the policy of Aurangzeb.]

15. Rao Dalpat (Bundela), and Rao Ram Singh (Hara).

16. [Twenty miles south of Agra, June 7, 1707.]

17. [Nawāb Bāi, daughter of the Rāja of Rājauri, Kashmīr, who died in 1690 (Manucci ii. 57, note).]

18. SeeHistory of the Tribes, article ‘Jats,’ p. 127.

19.A.D.1709-10.

20.Memoirs of Iradat Khan, p. 58 [translated by Captain Jonathan Scott; extracts from the work of Irādat Khān will be found in Elliot-Dowson vii. 534 f.]; also autograph letters of all those princes, with files of the regular newspapers (akhbars) of the day, in my possession, dated from the emperor’s camp.

21.Memoirs of Iradat Khan.

22. Hence the corruption ofhorde.

23. Newspapers, dated 3rd Rajab, San. 3—(3rd year of his reign).

24. Newspapers, 10th Rajab, San. 3.

25. Newspapers, 5th Shavval, San. 3.

26. The following edict, which caused this action, I translated from the archives; it is addressed to the son of Sawaldas:—“Maharana Amra Singh to Rathor Rae Singh Sawaldasot (race of Sawaldas)—Lay waste your villages and the country around you—your families shall have other habitations to dwell in—for particulars consult Daulat Singh Chondawat: obey these.” Asoj, S. 1764 (Dec.A.D.1708).

27. [February 18]A.D.1712. [The Musalmān authorities do not corroborate the assertion that he was poisoned.]

28. Husain Ali and Abdu-lla Khan.

29. Next to kine-killing was the article inhibiting the introduction of theAdalat, or British courts of justice, into the Rajput States, in all their treaties with the British Government inA.D.1817-18, the very name of which is abhorrent to a native.

30. The title of Husain Ali,—as Kutbu-l-mulk (the axis of the State), was that of his brother Abdu-lla.

31. A white swelling or tumour on the back.

32. The ceremony is described, as it was celebrated, with true Asiatic pomp. “The Ameer-ool Omra conducted the festivities on the part of the bride, and the marriage was performed with a splendour and magnificence till then unseen among the princes of Hindust’han. Many pompous insignia were added to the royal cortège upon this occasion. The illuminations rivalled the planets, and seemed to upbraid the faint lustre of the stars. The nuptials were performed at the palace of the Ameer-ool Omra, whence the emperor conveyed his bride with the highest splendour of imperial pomp to the citadel, amidst the resoundings of musical instruments and the acclamations of the people” (Scott’sHistory of Aurangzeb’s Successors, vol. i.p. 132)p. 132). [For the cure of Farrukhsīyar by Surgeon W. Hamilton see C. R. Wilson,Early Annals of the English in Bengal, ii. 235.]

33. [There is a monument of Hamilton in St. John’s Church, Calcutta (IGI, x. 280).]

34. [Ināyatu-lla Khān, a Persian of Naishapur, was tutor of Zebu-n-nissa Begam, daughter of Aurangzeb, and held high office in his reign and in that of Farrukhsīyar. He died in 1726 (Beale,s.v.).]

35. 13 rupees on every 2000 rupees.

36. [Altamgha, ‘the red seal,’ technically ‘a royalgrant’grant’. On its remission by Bābur see Erskine,Hist. of India, i. 467. Elliot remarks that thealtamghaas a tax was enforced as early as the time of Alāu-d-dīn and Fīroz Shāh (Elliot-Dowson iii. 365). For the use of the seal seeMemoirs of Jahāngīr, trans. Rogers-Beveridge, 23.]

37."Memorandum of Requests."1. TheMansabof 7000, the highest grade of rank."2. Farman of engagement under thepanjaprivate seal and sign that the jizya shall be abolished—that it shall no longer be imposed on the Hindu nation; at all events, that none of the Chagatai race shall authorize it in Mewar. Let it be annulled."3. The contingent of one thousand horse for service in the Deccan to be excused."4. All places of Hindu faith to be rebuilt, with perfect freedom of religious worship."5. If my uncles, brothers, or chiefs, repair to the Presence, to meet no encouragement."6. The Bhumias of Deolia, Banswara, Dungarpur, and Sirohi, besides other zamindars over whom I am to have control, they shall not be admitted to the Presence."7. The forces I possess are my chiefs—what troops you may require for a given period, you must furnish with rations (peti), and when the service is over, their accounts will be settled."8. Of the Hakkdars, Zamindars, Mansabdars, who serve you with zeal and from the heart, let me have a list—and those who are not obedient I will punish; but in effecting this no demand is to be made forPaemali."[A]"List of the districts attached to thePanjhazari,[B]at present under sequestration, to be restored—Phulia, Mandalgarh, Badnor, Pur, Basar, Ghayaspur, Pardhar, Banswara, Dungarpur. Besides the 5000 of old, you had on ascending the throne granted an increase of 1000, and on account of the victory at Sinsini 1000 more, of two and three horse."[C]"Of three crores ofdams[D]in gift (inam), namely, two according to farman, and one for the payment of the contingent in the Deccan, and of which two are immediately required, you have given me in lieu thereof Sirohi.“Districts now desired—Idar, Kekri, Mandal, Jahazpur, Malpur (and another illegible).”

37.

"Memorandum of Requests.

"1. TheMansabof 7000, the highest grade of rank.

"2. Farman of engagement under thepanjaprivate seal and sign that the jizya shall be abolished—that it shall no longer be imposed on the Hindu nation; at all events, that none of the Chagatai race shall authorize it in Mewar. Let it be annulled.

"3. The contingent of one thousand horse for service in the Deccan to be excused.

"4. All places of Hindu faith to be rebuilt, with perfect freedom of religious worship.

"5. If my uncles, brothers, or chiefs, repair to the Presence, to meet no encouragement.

"6. The Bhumias of Deolia, Banswara, Dungarpur, and Sirohi, besides other zamindars over whom I am to have control, they shall not be admitted to the Presence.

"7. The forces I possess are my chiefs—what troops you may require for a given period, you must furnish with rations (peti), and when the service is over, their accounts will be settled.

"8. Of the Hakkdars, Zamindars, Mansabdars, who serve you with zeal and from the heart, let me have a list—and those who are not obedient I will punish; but in effecting this no demand is to be made forPaemali."[A]

"List of the districts attached to thePanjhazari,[B]at present under sequestration, to be restored—Phulia, Mandalgarh, Badnor, Pur, Basar, Ghayaspur, Pardhar, Banswara, Dungarpur. Besides the 5000 of old, you had on ascending the throne granted an increase of 1000, and on account of the victory at Sinsini 1000 more, of two and three horse."[C]

"Of three crores ofdams[D]in gift (inam), namely, two according to farman, and one for the payment of the contingent in the Deccan, and of which two are immediately required, you have given me in lieu thereof Sirohi.

“Districts now desired—Idar, Kekri, Mandal, Jahazpur, Malpur (and another illegible).”

A. Destruction of property, alluding to the crops which always suffered in the movements of disorderly troops.

B. Mansab of 5000.

C. It was usual to allow two and three horses to each cavalier when favour was intended.

D. 40 dams to the rupee.

38. [Sāhu, ‘the honest, respectable man,’ a title given by Aurangzeb to Sivaji, son of Sambhaji (Grant Duff, 184).]

39. [DesmukhifromSardesmukh, an officer exercising police and revenue jurisdiction under the Marāthas. These taxes were confirmed in favour of Sivaji in 1665 (Ibid.94).]

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