CHAPTER 3

Foreign Troops

1. [Bīkaner is bounded on N. and W. by Bahāwalpur; S.W. by Jaisalmer; S. by Mārwār; S.E. by Shaikhāwati of Jaipur; E. by Lohāru and Hissār; total area 23,311 square miles (IGI, viii. 202).]

2. [In 1911 the population was 573,501, 4·79 souls per house.]

3. [For the Saraswat or Sarsūt Brāhmans see Rose,Glossary, ii. 122 ff.]

4. [The Chuhras are the criminal branch of the Panjāb sweepers (Rose,Glossary, ii. 182 ff.). The Thoris are said to be connected with the Aheris, a well-known criminal tribe (Census Report, Mārwār, 1891, ii. 194). In Bahāwalpur they resemble the Dhedh outcastes, who eat the flesh of dead animals (Malik Muhammad Din,Gazetteer, i. 155).]

5. [Moth,phaseolus aconitifolius;til,sesamum indicum.]

6. [Only a few acres of cotton are now grown.]

7. [Guār,dolichos biflorus; water-melons are known asmatīra;kakri, a coarse variety of melon.]

8. I sent specimens to Mr. Moorcroft so far back as 1813, but never learned the result.—See Article “On the Preservation of Food,”Edin. Review, No. 45, p. 115.

9. Mr. Barrow, in his valuable work on Southern Africa, describes the water-melon as self-sown and abundant.

10. [Twenty miles S. of Bīkaner city, containing a temple of Karniji, the guardian deity of the Mahārāja’s family.]

11. Water is sold, in all the large towns, by the Malis, or ‘gardeners,’ who have the monopoly of this article. Most families have large cisterns or reservoirs, calledtankas, which are filled in the rainy season. They are of masonry, with a small trap-door at the top, made to exclude the external air, and having a lock and key affixed. Some largetankasare established for the community, and I understand this water keeps sweet for eight and twelve months’ consumption. [The proper form of the word seems to betānkh,tānkha(Yule,Hobson-Jobson, 2nd ed. 898 f.; H. Beveridge,The Academy, xlvi. 174).]

12. [About 40 miles N.W. of Bīkaner city. The chief salt lakes are at Chhāpar and Lūnkaransar (Erskine iii. A. 350).]

13. [Multāni mitti, fuller’s earth, found near Madh in the S. of the State, and sometimes eaten (Erskine iii. A. 251; Watt,Econ. Prod.329 f.).]

14. One thousand rupees have been given for one; one hundred is the average value.

15. [The camel thorn,Alhagi maurorum.]

16. [N.W. of Bīkaner city, near the Panjāb frontier.]

17. [These towns are respectively 25 miles S.W. and 19 miles S.W. of Bīkaner city.]

18. [The tract S. of the Sutlej, having its E. limits at Ludhiāna and Sunām; to the S. of it lay the Bhāti desert (Manucci i. 320, iv. 426). Its importance is shown by Aurangzeb appointing Muhammad Muizzu-d-dīn, eldest son of Sultān Muazzam, Faujdār of the Lākhi Jungle, inA.D.1706 (Bilimoria,Letters of Aurangzeb,75.)75.)]

19. [At present the normal revenue of the State is about 32 lakhs of rupees, or £213,000.]

20. [Pānch, from which the tax derives its name.]

21. [Malba properly means ‘sweepings, rubbish,’ then miscellaneous revenue.]

22.Malis the term for land which has no irrigation but from the heavens.

23.Nohar district84villagesRevenueRs. 100,000Reni24””10,000Rania44””20,000Jaloli1””5,000Total original Fiscal Lands135,000since Rajgarh, Churu, and other places recovered.

23.

since Rajgarh, Churu, and other places recovered.

24. Impost Duties in old times, namely:Town ofNunkaranRs. 2,000Rajgarh10,000Shaikhsar5,000Capital—Bīkaner75,000From Churu and other towns5,000137,000

24. Impost Duties in old times, namely:

25. [Dānt,dānta, ‘a tooth,’ then ‘a ploughshare.’]

26.Khushmeans ‘happiness, pleasure, volition’;ap ki khushi, ‘at your pleasure.’ [hāl = ‘circumstances.’]

27. This was written in 1813.

28. [The State now supports for Imperial service the well-known Camel Corps, called the Ganga Risāla.]

29. Pugal Patta.

30. These chiefs are called Sardars of Khari Patta, one of the original conquests of the founder, Bika.

Bhatner.—Bhatner, which now forms an integral part of Bikaner, was anciently the chief abode of another Jat community, so powerful as at one time to provoke the vengeance of kings, and at others to succour them when in distress. It is asserted that its name is in nowise connected with the Bhattis, who colonized it, but derived from the Bardai, or Bhat, of a powerful prince, to whom the lands were granted, and who, desirous to be the founder of a poetic dynasty, gave his professional title to the abode. In the annals of Jaisalmer, it will be seen that there is another story accounting for the appellation, which recalls the founding of Carthage or Byrsa. Both legends are improbable; and the Bhatti annals confirm what might have been assumed without suspicion, that to a colony of this race Bhatner owes its name, though not its existence. The whole of the northern part is called Ner in the ancient geographical nomenclature of Marusthali; and when some of the Bhatti clans became proselytes to Islam, they changed the vowelatou, to distinguish them from the parent stock, namely [212], Bhati for Bhatti.[1]We shall,however, furnish evidence by and by, in the annals of the original race, that in all probability the Yadu-Bhatti is the original Yuti colony from Central Asia; and that “the Jat prince of Salpur,” whose inscription is in the first volume of this work, was the predecessor of these very races.

Neither the tract depending on Bhatner, nor that north of it to the Gara River, presented formerly the scene of absolute desolation they now exhibit, and I shall append a list of towns, to which a high antiquity is assigned, whose vestiges still remain, and from which something might perhaps be gleaned to confirm or overturn these deductions.

Bhatner has attained great historical celebrity from its position, being in the route of invasion from Central Asia to India. It is more than probable that the Jats, who resisted the advance of Mahmud of Ghazni in a naval warfare on the Indus, had long before that period established themselves in the desert as well as in the Panjab; and as we find them occupying a place amongst the Thirty-six Royal Tribes, we may infer that they had political power many centuries before that conqueror. InA.D.1205, only twelve years after the conquest of India by Shihabu-d-din, his successor, Kutb, was compelled to conduct the war in person against the Jats of the northern desert, to prevent their wresting the important post of Hansi from the empire;[2]and when the unfortunate and intrepid queen Raziyah, the worthy heiress of the great Firoz, was compelled to abandon her throne to a usurper, she sought and found protection amongst the Jats, who, with their Scythic brethren, the Gakkhars, assembled all their forces and marched, with their queen at their head, like Tomyris of old, to meet her foes.[3]She was not destined to enjoy the same revenge, but gained a glorious death in the attempt to overturn the Salic law of India.[4]Again, inA.D.1397, when Timur invaded India,Bhatner was attacked for “having distressed him exceedingly on his invasion of Multan,” when he “in person scoured the country, and cut off a tribe of banditti called Jats.”[5]In short, the Bhattis and Jats were so intermingled that distinction was impossible. Leaving this point, therefore, to be adjusted in the annals of the Bhattis, we proceed to sketch the history of the colony which ruled Bhatner when subjugated by the Rathors.

The Bhatti Migration.—It was shortly after Timur’s invasion that a colony of Bhattis migrated from Marot and Phulra, under their leader Bersi, and assaulted and captured Bhatner from a [213] Muhammadan chief; but whether one of Timur’s officers, or a dependent of Delhi, remains unknown, though most probably the former. His name, Chaghat Khan, almost renders this certain, and they must have made a proper name out of his tribe, Chagatai, of which he was a noble. This Khan had conquered Bhatner from the Jats, and had acquired a considerable territory, which the Bhatti colony took advantage of his return to invade and conquer. Sixteen generations have intervened since this event, which, bringing it to the period of Timur’s invasion, furnishes an additional reason for concluding the Khan of Bhatner to have been one of his nobles, whom he may have left entrusted with this important point of communication, should he meditate further intercourse with India.

Bersi ruled twenty-seven years, and was succeeded by his son Bhairon, when the sons of Chaghat Khan, obtaining aid from the Delhi monarch, invaded Bhatner, and were twice repulsed with great loss. A third army succeeded; Bhatner was invested and reduced to great straits, when Bhairon hung out a flag of truce, and offered to accept any conditions which would not compromise his castle. Two were named: to embrace Islamism, or seal his sincerity by giving his daughter to the king. He accepted the first alternative, and from that day, in order to distinguish these proselytes, they changed the name of Bhati to Bhatti. Six chiefs intervened between Bhairon and

Rao Dalich, surnamed Hayat Khan, from whom Rae Singh of Bikaner wrested Bhatner, and Fatehabad became the future residence of the Bhatti Khans. He was succeeded by

Husain Khan (the grandson of Hayat), who recapturedBhatner from Raja Shujawan Singh, and it was maintained during the time of Husain Mahmud and Imam Mahmud, until Surat Singh made the final conquest of it from Bahadur Khan, father to the present titular head of the Bhattis,[6]

Zabita Khan, who resides at Reni, having about twenty-five villages dependent thereon.[7]Reni was founded by Rae Singh of Bikaner, and named after his queen (Rani), to whom it was assigned. It was taken by Imam Mahmud. The Bhatti Khan is now a robber by profession, and his revenues, which are said to have sometimes amounted to three lakhs of rupees, are extorted by the point of his lance. These [214] depredations are carried to a frightful extent, and the poor Jats are kept eternally on the alert to defend their property. The proximity of the British territory preventing all incursions to the eastward, they are thrown back upon their original haunts, and make the whole of this northern region their prey. To this circumstance is attributed the desertion of these lands, which once reared cattle in abundance, and were highly valued. It is asserted that from the northern boundary of Bhatner to the Gara there are many tracts susceptible of high cultivation, having water near the surface, and many large spaces entirely free fromthal, or ‘sandhills.’ To the drying up of the Hakra, or Ghaggar, many centuries ago, in conjunction with moral evils, is ascribed the existing desolation. According to tradition, this stream took a westerly direction, by Phulra, where it is yet to be traced, and fell into the Indus below Uchh. The couplet recording its absorption by the sands of Ner has already been given, in the time of Rao Hamir, prince of Dhat. If the next European traveller who may pass through the Indian desert will seek out the representative of the ancient Sodha princes at Chor, near Umarkot, he may learn from their bard (if they retain such an appendage) the date of this prince, and that of so important an event in the physical and political history of their regions. The vestiges of large towns, now buried in the sands, confirm the truth of this tradition, and several ofthem claim a high antiquity; such as the Rangmahall, already mentioned, west of Bhatner, having subterranean apartments still in good preservation. An aged native of Dandusar (twenty-five miles south of Bhatner) replied, to my inquiry as to the recollections attached to this place, that “it belonged to a Panwar prince who ruled once all these regions, when Sikandar Rumi attacked them.”

An excursion from Hansi Hissar, our western frontier, into these regions, would soon put the truth of such traditions to the test, as far as these reported ruins are concerned; though what might appear the remains of palaces of the Pramaras, the Johyas, and the Jats of ancient days, to the humble occupant of a hut in the desert, may only prove the foundations of some castellated building. But the same traditions are circulated with regard to the more western desert, where the same kind of vestiges is said to exist, and the annals make mention of capitals, the sites of which are now utterly unknown. Considering the safety, and comparative ease, with which such a journey can be made, one cannot imagine a more agreeable pursuit than the prosecution of archaeological inquiries in the northern deserts of Rajputana, where traditions abound, and where the existing manners, amongst such a diversity of tribes, would furnish ample materials [215] for the portfolio, as well as for memoirs. Its productions, spontaneous or cultivated, though its botanical as well as zoological specimens may be limited, we know to be essentially different from those of Gangetic India, and more likely to find a parallel in the natural productions and phenomena of the great African desert. The Bhattis, the Khosas, the Rajars, the Sahariyas, the Mangalias, the Sodhas, and various other nomadic tribes, present a wide field for observation; and the physiologist, when tired of the habits of man, may descend from the nobler animal to the lion, the wild ass, every kind of deer, the flocks of sheep which, fed on the succulent grasses, touch not water for six weeks together, while the various herbs, esculent plants and shrubs, salt lakes, natron beds, etc., would give abundant scope for commentary and useful comparison. He will discover no luxuries, and few signs of civilization; thejhonpra(hut) constructed of poles and twigs, coated inside with mud and covered with grass, being little better than the African’s dwelling.

Ancient Cities.—We shall conclude this imperfect sketch ofBikaner and the desert with the names of several of their ancient towns, which may aid the search of the traveller in the regions on its northern border: Abohar; Banjara ka Nagar; Rangmahall; Sodal, or Soratgarh; Machotal; Ratibang; Kalibang; Kalyansar; Phulra; Marot; Tilwara; Gilwara; Bani; Manikkhar; Sursagar; Bamani; Koriwala; Kal-Dherani.[8]

Some names in this list may be unimportant, but if two, or even one, should be the means of eliciting some knowledge of the past, the record will not be useless.

Phulra and Marot have still some importance: the first is very ancient, and enumerated amongst the ‘Nau-koti Maru-ki,’ in the earliest periods of Pramara (vulg. Panwar) dominion. I have no doubt that inscriptions in the ornamental nail-headed character belonging to the Jains will be found here, having obtained one from Lodorva in the desert, which has been a ruin for nine centuries. Phulra was the residence of Lakha Phulani, a name well known to those versed in the old traditions of the desert. He was cotemporary with Siddh Rae of Anhilwara, and Udayaditya of Dhar [216].

1. [Bhatner, Bhatti-nagara, ‘town of the Bhattis,’ the Po-to-lu-lo or Bhatosthala of the Buddhist pilgrims (Cunningham,Ancient Geography, 147;ASR, xxiii. (1887), 4 f.).]

2. [Kutbu-d-dīn [=I]bak (A.D.1206-10). The leader of the Hindu revolt was Jatwān, who was defeated and slain on the borders of Bāgar (‘the land of the Bāgri, or warriors,’ or according to others, frombāgar, ‘a thorn hedge’), a name still applied to a tract in the Sirsa and Hissār Districts of the Panjāb (Cunningham,Ancient Geography, 247;IGI, xiii. 149 f.). For the revolt seeTabaqāt-i-Nasiri, trans. Raverty, 516 f.; Elliot-Dowson ii. 217 ff.; Ferishta i. 191 f., who calls the leader Jīwan Rāī, general of the forces of Nahrwāla in Gujarāt.]

3. [Sultān Razīyah (A.D.1236-40) was supported in her attack on Delhi by a force of Gakkhars and Jats (Ferishta i. 221).]

4. I presented to Mr. Marsden a unique coin of this ill-fated queen.

5. [For Timūr’s attack on Bhatner and on the Jats see Elliot-Dowson iii. 420 ff., 487 ff., 428 f., 492 f.]

6. In S. 1857 (A.D.1801) the celebrated George Thomas, for the sum of three lakhs, put the Bhattis into the temporary possession of Bhatner; but the succeeding year it was again taken from them by the Rathors.

7. This memoir was written in 1813-14, and may contain many inaccuracies, from its very remote situation, and the difficulty of obtaining correct information. [Reni is 120 miles N.E. of Bīkaner city, and is said to take its name from a legendary Rāja Renpāl.]

8. [Few of these names are traceable on modern maps.]

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