CHAPTER 11

Abhai Singh starts for Gujarat,A.D.1730.—The political arrondissement of Marwar dates from this period; for the rebellion of Sarbuland was the forerunner of the disintegration of the empire. It was in JuneA.D.1730 that the prince of Marwar left the court of Delhi. He had a double motive in proceeding direct to Ajmer, of which province he was viceroy; first, to take possession of his stronghold (the key not only of Marwar but of every State in Rajputana); and second, to consult with the prince of Amber on the affairs of that critical conjuncture. What was the cause of Jai Singh’s presence at Ajmer the chronicle says not; but from circumstances elsewhere related, it may be conjectured that it was for the purpose of celebrating “the rites of the Pitrideva” (manes of his ancestors) at Pushkar. The bard gives a most prolix account of the meeting, even to thepagtar, ‘or foot-clothes’ spread for “the kings of the Hindus” to walk on, “who feasted together, and together plotted the destruction of the [103] empire”: from which we perceive that Karna, the bard, had a peep behind the curtain.

Having installed his officers in Ajmer, Abhai Singh proceeded to Merta, when he was met by his brother, Bakhta Singh, on which occasion the grant of Nagor was bestowed upon the latter. The brothers continued their route to the capital, when all the chiefs were dismissed to their homes with injunctions to assemble their vassals for the ensuing campaign against Sarbuland. At the appointed time, the Kher (feudal array) of Marwar assembled under the walls of Jodhpur. The occasion is a delightful one to the bard, who revels in all “the pomp and circumstance of war”: from the initiatory ceremony, the moving out the tents, to the consecration of the ‘mighty tubes’ (balwannal), the ‘volcanos of the field,’ or, as he terms them, the ‘crocodile-mouths’ (magarmukhan),‘emblems of Yama,’ which were sprinkled abundantly with the blood of goats slain under their muzzles. He describes each clan as it arrives, their steeds, and caparisons.

Abhai Singh attacks Sirohi.—Instead, however, of proceeding direct to the main object of the war, Abhai Singh took advantage of the immense army thus placed under his command, as viceroy of Gujarat, to wreak his own vengeance upon his neighbour, the gallant prince of Sirohi, who, trusting to his native strength, had spurned every compromise which involved his independence. This resolution he maintained by his natural position, strengthened by alliances with the aboriginal races who hemmed his little State on all sides, excepting that towards Marwar.

These Minas, the mountaineers of the Aravalli, had given offence to Abhai Singh; for while the prince, between his arrival at Jodhpur and the assemblage of the Kher, gave himself up to indolence and opium, they carried off the whole cattle of the train to the mountains. When this was reported to Abhai Singh, he coolly said, “Let them go, they knew we were short of forage, and have only taken them to their own pastures in the mountains.” Strange to say, they did return them, and in excellent condition, as soon as he prepared to march. When he heard of this, he observed, “Did I not tell you these Minas were faithful subjects?”

The order to march was now given, when the bard enumerates the names and strength of the different Rajput princes, whose contingents formed this array, in which there were only two Muhammadan leaders of distinction: “The Haras of Kotah and Bundi; the Khichis of Gagraun; the Gaurs of Sheopur; the Kachhwahas of [104] Amber, and [even] the Sodhas of the desert, under their respective princes or chiefs, were under the command of the Marwar prince. His native retainers, the united clans of Marwar, formed the right wing of the whole army, headed by his brother Bakhta.

“On the 10th Chait (Sudi) S. 1786, Abhai marched from Jodhpur, by Bhadrajun and Malgarh, Siwana and Jalor. Rewara was assaulted; the swords of the enemy showered, and the Champawat fell amidst heaps of slain. The Deoras abandoned the hill and fled. The trees were levelled to the summit; a garrison was posted, and the array moved on to Pusalia. Then Abu shook with affright. Affliction seized Sirohi; its prince wasin despair when he heard Rewara and Pusalia were destroyed.[26]The Chauhan preferred decking his daughter in the bridal vestments to arraying his army to oppose Abhaimall.”

Submission of Sirohi to Abhai Singh.—Rao Narayan Das, through the intervention of a Rajput chieftain, named Mayaram, of the Chawara tribe, made overtures to the Rathor, proposing his niece (daughter of Man Singh his predecessor) in marriage.[27]“In the midst of strife ‘the coco-nut,’ with eight choice steeds and the price of four elephants, were sent and accepted. The drum of battle ceased; the nuptials were solemnized, and in the tenth month Ram Singh was born at Jodhpur.” The bard, however, lets us into the secret, and shows that the Rajputs had ‘secret articles,’ as well as the more polished diplomacy of Europe; for besides the fair Chauhani, the Rao consented to pay Peshachchanni a ‘concealed tribute.’

The Deora chiefs united their contingents to the royal army, for the subjugation of Sarbuland, and the march recommenced by Palanpur and Siddhpur, or the Sarasvati. Here they halted, and “an envoy was dispatched to Sarbuland, summoning him to surrender the imperial equipments, cannons, and stores; to account for the revenues, and to withdraw his garrisons from Ahmadabad and all the strongholds of the province.” The reply was laconic and dignified; “that he himself was king, and his head was with Ahmadabad” [105].

A grand council of war was convened in the Rajput camp,which is describedcon amoreby the bard. The overture and its reception were communicated, and the debates and speeches which ensued thereon, as to the future course of proceeding, are detailed. The bard is, however, satisfied with recording the speeches of ‘the chiefs of the eight grades of Maru.’

“First spoke the chief of the children of Champa, Kusal, son of Harnath of Awa, whose seat is on the right of the throne. Then Kanairam of Asop, leader of the Kumpawats, whose place is on the left: ‘let us, like the Kilkila,[28]dive into the waters of battle.’ He was followed by Kesari, the Mertia Sarmor—then by the veteran who led the Udawats: old and brave, many a battle had he seen. Then the chief of Khanua, who led the clan of Jodha, protested he would be the first to claim the immortal garland from the hand of the Apsaras:[29]‘Let us stain our garments with saffron, and our lances with crimson, and play at ball with this Sarbuland.’[30]Fateh the Jethawat, and Karnavat Abhaimall, re-echoed his words. All shouted ‘battle!’ ‘battle!’ while some put on the coloured garments, determined to conquer Bhanuloka. Kama, the Champawat, said aloud, ‘With sparkling cup the Apsaras will serve us in the mansion of the sun.’[31]Every clan, every chief, and every bard re-echoed ‘battle!’

“Then Bakhta stood up to claim the onset, to lead the van in battle against Sarbuland, while his brother and prince should await the result in his tents. A jar of saffron-water was placed before the prince, with which he sprinkled each chief, who shouted, ‘They would people Amarapur.’”[32]

The bard then describes the steeds of the Rajput chivalry, in which the Bhimthadi [106][33]of the Deccan takes precedence; he is followed by the horses of Dhat and Rardara in Marwar, and the Kathiawar of Saurashtra.

The Battle with Sarbuland.—Sarbuland’s plans of defence are minutely detailed. At each gate he posted two thousand men and five guns, “manned by Europeans,” of whom he had a body of musketeers round his person. The cannonade had been kept up three days on both sides, in which the son of Sarbuland was killed. At length, Bakhta led the storm, when all theotsandawatsperformed prodigies of valour. The Champawat Kusal was the first to be carried to the “immortal abode”; but though “the sun stood still to see the deeds of the son of Harnath” we cannot particularize the bard’s catalogue of heroes transferred to Suryaloka[34]on this day, when the best blood of Rajputana was shed on the walls of Ahmadabad. Both the princely brothers had their share in “the play of swords,” and each slew more than one leader of note. Amra, who had so often defended Ajmer, slew five chiefs of the grades of two and three thousand horse.

“Eight gharis of the day remained, when Sarbuland fled; but Aliyar, the leader of his vanguard, made a desperate resistance, until he fell by the hand of Bakhta Singh. The drum of victory sounded. The Nawab left hispaniin the Rankund.[35]The ‘would-be-king’ was wounded; his elephant showed the speed of the deer. Four thousand four hundred and ninety-three wereslain, of whom one hundred were Palkinishins, eight Hathinishins,[36]and three hundred entitled to the Tazim on entering the Diwan-i-amm.[37]

“One hundred and twenty of Abhai Singh’s chieftains of note, with five hundred horse, were slain, and seven hundred wounded.

“The next morning, Sarbuland surrendered with all his effects. He was escorted towards Agra, his wounded Moguls dying at every stage; but the soul of the ‘Fearless’ was sad at the loss of his kin.[38]Abhaimall ruled over the seventeen [107] thousand towns of Gujarat, and the nine thousand of Marwar, besides one thousand elsewhere. The princes of Idar, of Bhuj, of Parkar, of Sind, and of Sirohi, the Chalukya Ran of Fatehpur, Jhunjunu, Jaisalmer, Nagor, Dungarpur, Banswara, Lunawara, Halwad, every morning bowed the head to Abhaimall.

“Thus, in the enlightened half of the moon, on the victorious tenth[39](S. 1787,A.D.1731), the day on which Ramachandra captured Lanka, the war against Sarbuland, an Omrah (lord) of twelve thousand, was concluded.”[40]

Having left a garrison of seventeen thousand men for the duties of the capital and province, Abhai Singh returned to Jodhpur with the spoils of Gujarat, and there he deposited four crores of rupees, and one thousand four hundred guns of all calibres, besides military stores of every description. With these, in the declining state of the empire, the desert king strengthened his forts and garrisons, and determined, in the general scramble for dominion, not to neglect his own interests [108].

1. [A plumed crest worn on the turban.]

2. [Fly-flappers, bands of music, kettledrums.]

3. Thekalasis a brazen vessel, of household use. A female of each family, filling one of these with water, repairs to the house of the head of the village, when, being all convened, they proceed in a body to meet the person to whom they render honour, singing thesuhaila, or ‘song of joy.’ The presenting water is a token of homage and regard, and one which the author has often had paid to him, especially in Mewar, where every village met him in this way.

4. I hope some day to present a few of the works of the great bard Chand, with a dissertation on the Bardais, and all the ‘sons of song.’ [Karan flourished aboutA.D.1730: see Grierson,Modern Vernacular Literature of Hindustan, 98.]

5. Entitled theSurya Prakas, of 7500 stanzas.

6.Kāvīswar, orkāvya-īswara, ‘lord of verse,’ fromkāvya, ‘poesy,’ andīswara, ‘lord.’

7. The portal of the palace appears to have been the bard’s post. Pope gives the same position to his historic bards in ‘the Temple of Fame’:“Full in the passage of each spacious gate,The sage Historians in white garments wait;Grav’d o’er their seats the form of Time was found,His scythe revers’d, and both his pinions bound.” [l. 145-8.]

7. The portal of the palace appears to have been the bard’s post. Pope gives the same position to his historic bards in ‘the Temple of Fame’:

“Full in the passage of each spacious gate,The sage Historians in white garments wait;Grav’d o’er their seats the form of Time was found,His scythe revers’d, and both his pinions bound.” [l. 145-8.]

“Full in the passage of each spacious gate,

The sage Historians in white garments wait;

Grav’d o’er their seats the form of Time was found,

His scythe revers’d, and both his pinions bound.” [l. 145-8.]

8. In the original, “by thebāīsa,” the ‘twenty-two,’ meaning the collective force of the twenty-twosubahdars, ‘or satraps of the provinces.’

9. Capitation tax.

10. The poet calls it by its classic appellation,Nāgadurga, the ‘castle of the serpent’ [ratherNāgapura,Nāgapura,capital of the Nāga sept of Rājputs].

11. For this festival see p.661.

12. Jawalamukhi, the ‘mouth of flame,’ the cannon, which are thus consecrated before action. They are calledavatars, or ‘incarnations’ of Jawalamukhi, the Etna of India, at the edge of whose crater the Hindu poet very properly places the temple of Jawali Rani, ‘the terrific’ Kali Ma, the Hindu Hecate. [Jawālamukhi in the Kāngra District, Panjāb (IGI, xiv. 86 f.).]

13.Abhai, the name of the prince, means ‘fearless,’ frombhai, ‘fear,’ and privative prefix.

14. [On the Kishangarh border, N.E. of Jodhpur State.]

15.Jagrani(I write all these phrases exactly as pronounced in the western dialect), ‘Queen of the world.’ Sitala Mata is the common name for the goddess who presides over this scourge of infancy.

16. ‘Of happy fortune.’

17. Mahārāja-Rājeswar, the pompous title of the kings of Maru; ‘great Raja, lord of Rajas.’

18. [Sarbuland Khān was Governor of Gujarāt,A.D.1724, and was removed from office in 1730 because he consented to payChauthor blackmail to the Marāthas. He opposed the installation of Abhai as his successor, and defeated him at Adālaj (Beale,Dict. Oriental Biography, s.v.; Grant Duff 217).]

19. In none of the Muhammadan histories of this period is it mentioned, that there was an imperial prince at the head of the first Mahratta irruption; probably he was a mere tool for the purposes of others. [The ‘Boorish Prince,’ as the name implies, was a nickname of Hāmid Khān Bahādur, uncle of Nizāmu-l-mulk, Āsaf Jāh (Grant Duff 217;BG, i. Part i. 303 ff.).]

20. [Girdhar Bahādur was a Nāgar Brāhman; Ibrāhīm Kuli, son of Shujā’at Khān.]

21. Afterwards Wazir of Oudh, a State founded and maintained by consummate treason.

22. Nawab of Bengal, another traitor.

23. This number of cities, towns, and villages constituted the kingdom of Gujarat under its ancient sovereigns.

24.Sar, ‘the head,’buland, ‘exalted, high, arrogant.’ I write the nameSirbullund, being the orthography long known.

25. In the original, the emperor is called theAspati, ‘lord of swords,’ or perhapsAswapati, ‘lord of steeds.’

26. Both these places are famous in the Mewasa, or fastnesses of Sirohi, and gave the Author, who was intrusted with its political affairs, much trouble. Fortunately for the Deora prince, descendant of Rao Narayan Das, the Author knew their history, and was enabled to discriminate the claims which Jodhpur asserted over her in virtue of such attacks as this; in short, between the claims of ‘the princes of Marwar,’ and the king’s lieutenants of Gujarat. In these negotiations wherein Jodhpur advanced its pretensions tosuzerainetéover Sirohi, which as stoutly denied the right, he clearly distinguished the claims of the princes of Jodhpur, in their capacities of viceroys of the empire, and argued that claims conceded by Sirohi in that character guaranteed none to them, in their individual capacity, as chiefs of Marwar, a distinction which they affected not to comprehend, but which was at length fully recognized and acted on by the paramount power. Sirohi is maintained in its ancient independence, which but for this previous knowledge must have been inevitably lost.

27. [It was Rāo Mān Singh III. (A.D.1705-49) who gave his daughter in marriage to Abhai Singh. The Sirohi records contain no mention of a Rāo named Nārāyan Dās (Erskine iii. A. 243).]

28. Thekilkilais the bird we call the kingfisher.

29. The maids of war, the Valkyries of Rajput mythology.

30. Anotherjeu-de-motson the name Sarbuland, with whose head (sar) the Jodha chief proposes to play at ball.

31. The young chieftain of Salumbar, the first of the nobles of Mewar, was sitting with me, attentively listening as I was translating the war against Sarbuland, read by my old tutor. His family possess an hereditary aversion to ‘the cup,’ which is under solemn prohibition from some cause which I forget, and so far did his grandfather carry his antipathy, that a drop falling upon him at an entertainment, he cut out the contaminated part with his dagger. Aware of this, I turned round to the young chief and said: “Well, Rawatji, would you accept the cup from the hand of the Apsaras or would you refuse themunawwar(pledge)?” “Certainly I would take it; these are very different cups from ours,” was his reply. “Then you believe that the heavenly fair carry the souls of those who fall in battle to the Mandal of Surya?” “Who dare doubt it? When my time comes, I will takethatcup!” a glorious creed for a soldier! He sat for hours listening to my old tutor and friend; for none of their bards expounded like him thebhujanga(serpentine verse) of the poet. I have rated the Rawat for being unable to repeat the genealogy of his house from Chonda to himself; but the family bard was dead and left no progeny to inherit his mantle. This young chief is yet (A.D.1820) but twenty-two, and promises to be better prepared.

32. ‘The city of immortality.’

33. [The Bhīmthadi or Bhīvarthadi horses, which take their name from a division of the Poona District in the valley of the Bhīma River, were highly esteemed by the Marāthas, being middle-sized, strong, good-looking, generally dark bay with black legs (BG, xviii. Part i. 61). It was on a horse of this breed that Mahādāji Sindhia escaped after the battle of Pānīpat (Elliot-Dowson viii. 156).]

34. The abode of heroes, the Valhalla of the Rajput mythology.

35. Rankund is the ‘fountain of battle,’ andpāniis applied, as we use the word water, to the temper or spirit of a sword: a play on words.

36. Chiefs entitled to ride in palkis and on elephants.

37. A long list of names is given, which would only fatigue the reader; but amongst them we select a singular one, Nolakh Khan Anglez, ‘Nolakh the Englishman.’

38. The bard enumerates with the meed of praise each vassal who fell, whether Rathor or of the contingents of the other principalities serving under the prince of Marwar. The Champawats bore the brunt, and lost Karan of Pali, Kishan Singh of Sandri, Gordhan of Jalor, and Kalyan. The Kumpawats lost also several leaders of clans, as Narsingh, Surthan Singh, Padma, son of Durjan. The Jodha tribe lost three leaders, namely, Hayatmall, Guman, and Jogidas. The brave Mertias also lost three: Bhum Singh, Kusal Singh, and Gulab, son of Hathi. The allodial chieftains, the Jadons, the Sonigiras, the Dhondals, and Khichis, had many brave men “carried to Bhanuloka,” and even bards and purohits were amongst the slain.

39.Vijaya daswin.

40. With this battle theRaj RupakaandSurya Prakasterminate. [All the rhetoric of the bard cannot disguise what was really a Rājput defeat. Their force advanced to Adālaj, about eight miles from Ahmadābād, and was defeated. Abhai Singh took up a new position, and a still more bloody engagement followed, in which each side tried to kill the opposing commander; but as both Mubārizu-l-mulk, who was known as Sarbuland Khān, and Abhai Singh fought in disguise, neither party succeeded. The Rāthors were finally pursued as far as Sarkhej, and it was only on Mubārizu-l-mulk receiving a lakh of rupees (£6666) that he was induced to go to Agra. See Khāli Khan’s account in Elliot-Dowson vii. 530, andBG, i. Part i. 310 f.]

Jealousy of Abhai Singh to Bakht Singh.—The tranquillity which for a while followed the campaign in Gujarat was of no long duration. The love of ease and opium, which increased with the years of Abhai Singh, was disturbed by a perpetual apprehension of the active courage and military genius of his brother, whose appanage of Nagor was too restricted a field for his talents and ambition. Bakhta was also aware that his daring nature, which obtained him the suffrages, as it would the swords, of his turbulent and easily excited countrymen, rendered him an object of distrust, and that without great circumspection, he would be unable to maintain himself in hisimperium in imperio, the castle and three hundred and sixty townships of Nagor. He was too discreet to support himself by foreign aid, or by fomenting domestic strife; but with the aid of the bard he adopted a line of policy, the relation of which will develop new traits in the Rajput character, and exemplify its peculiarities. Karna, after finishing his historical chronicle, concluding with the war against Sarbuland, abandoned “the gate of Jodhpur for that of Nagor.” Like all his tribe, the bard was an adept in intrigue, and his sacred character forwarded the secret means of executing it. His advice was to embroil their common sovereign with the prince of Amber, and an opportunity was not long wanting [109].

Abhai Singh attacks Bīkaner.—The prince of Bikaner,[1]a junior but independent branch of Marwar, had offended his yet nominal suzerain Abhai Singh, who, taking advantage of the weakness of their common liege lord the emperor, determinedto resent the affront, and accordingly invested Bikaner, which had sustained a siege of some weeks, when Bakhta determined to make its release subserve his designs; nor could he have chosen a better expedient. Although the prince of Marwar had led his united vassalage against Bikaner, they were not only lukewarm as to the success of their own arms, but, anomalous as it must appear in the annals even of feudal warfare, they furnished the besieged with the means of defence, who, but for the supplies of opium, salt, and ammunition, would soon have been compelled to surrender. We can account for this: Bikaner was of their own kin, a branch of the great tree of which Siahji was the root, and to which they could cling in emergency; in short, Bikaner balanced the power between themselves and their head.

The scheme being approved, its execution and mode of development to Jai Singh were next canvassed. “Touch his pride,” said Karna; “tell him the insult to Amber, which your ancestor invested, has never been balanced, and that he will never find a time like the present to fling a few shot at Jodhpur.”

Bakht Singh intrigues to cause War with Jaipur.—Bakhta addressed a letter to Jai Singh, and at the same time sent instructions to the envoy of Bikaner at his court how to act.

The prince of Amber, towards the close of his career, became partial to ‘the cup’; but, aware of the follies it involved him in, an edict prohibited all official intercourse with him while he was under its influence. The direct overture of Bakhta was canvassed, and all interference between the kindred belligerents was rejected in a full council of the chiefs of Amber. But the envoy had a friend in the famous Vidyadhar,[2]the chief civil minister of the State, through whose means he obtained permission to make ‘a verbal report, standing.’ “Bikaner,” he said, “was in peril, and without his aid must fall, and that his master did not consider the sovereign of Marwar, but of Amber, as his suzerain.” Vanity and wine did the rest. The prince took up the pen and wrote to Abhai Singh, “That they all formed one great family; to forgive Bikaner and raise his batteries”: and as he took another cup, and [110] curled his moustache, he gave the letterto be folded. “Maharaja,” said the envoy, “put in two more words: ‘or, my name is Jai Singh.’” They were added. The overjoyed envoy retired, and in a few minutes the letter was on transit to its destination by the swiftest camel of the desert. Scarcely had the envoy retired, when the chief of Bansko,[3]the Mentor of Jai Singh, entered. He was told of the letter, which “would vex his Saga.”[4]The old chief remonstrated; he said, “Unless you intend to extinguish the Kachhwahas, recall this letter.” Messenger after messenger was sent, but the envoy knew his duty. At the dinner hour all the chiefs had assembled at the (Rasora) banquet-hall, when the spokesman of the vassalage, old Dip Singh, in reply to the communication of his sovereign, told him he had done a cruel and wanton act, and that they must all suffer for his imprudence.

The reply, a laconic defiance, was brought back with like celerity; it was opened and read by Jai Singh to his chiefs: “By what right do you dictate to me, or interfere between me and my servants? If your name is ‘Lion of Victory’ (Jai Singh), mine is ‘the Lion without Fear’ (Abhai Singh).”[5]

The ancient chief, Dip Singh, said: “I told you how it would be; but there is no retreat, and our business is to collect our friends.” The Kher, or ‘levyen masse,’ was proclaimed: Every Kachhwaha was commanded to repair to the great standard planted outside the capital. The home-clans came pouring in, and aid was obtained from the Haras of Bundi, the Jadons of Karauli, the Sesodias of Shahpura, the Khichis, and the Jats, until one hundred thousand men were formed beneath the castle of Amber. This formidable array proceeded, march after march, until they reached Gangwana, a village on the frontier of Marwar.[6]Here they encamped, and, with all due courtesy, awaited the arrival of the ‘Fearless Lion.’

Battle of Gangwāna.—They were not long in suspense. Mortally offended at such wanton interference, which compelled him to relinquish his object on the very eve of attainment, AbhaiSingh raised his batteries from besieging Bikaner and rapidly advanced to the encounter.

Bakhta now took alarm. He had not calculated the length to which his intrigues would involve his country; he had sought but to embroil the border princes, but [111] had kindled a national warfare. Still his fears were less for the discovery of his plot than for the honour of Marwar, about to be assailed by such odds. He repaired to his brother and liege lord, and implored him not to raise the siege; declaring that he alone, with the vassals of Nagor, would receive the Bhagatia’s[7]battle, and, by God’s blessing, would give a good account of him. Abhai Singh, not averse to see his brother punished for his conduct, though determined to leave him to the brunt of the battle, rejected with scorn the intriguing proposition.

The Nakkara sounded the assembly for the chivalry of Nagor. Bakhta took post on the balcony over the Delhi gate, with two brazen vessels; in the one was an infusion of opium, in the other saffron-water. To each Rajput as he entered he presented opium, and made the impress of his right hand on his heart with the saffron-water. Having in this manner enrolled eight thousand Rajputs, sworn to die with him, he determined to select the most resolute; and marching to the edge of an extensive field of luxuriant Indian corn[8](bajra), he halted his band, and thus addressed them: “Let none follow me who is not prepared for victory or death: if there be any amongst you who desire to return, let them do so in God’s name.” As he spoke, he resumed the march through the luxuriant fields, that it might not be seen who retired. More than five thousand remained, and with these he moved on to the combat.

The Amber prince awaited them at Gangwana: soon as the hostile lines approached, Bakhta gave the word, and, in one dense mass, his gallant legion charged with lance and sword the deepened lines of Amber, carrying destruction at every pass. He passed through and through this host; but when he pulled up in the rear, only sixty of his band remained round his person. At this moment the chief of Gajsinghpura, head of all his vassals, hinted there was a jungle in the rear: “And what is there in front,” saidthe intrepid Rathor, “that we should not try the road we came?” and as he espied the Panchranga, or five-coloured flag, which denoted the headquarters of Amber, the word again was given. The cautious Kumbhani[9]advised his prince to avoid the charge: with some difficulty he was made to leave the field, and as a salvo to his honour, by a flank movement towards Kandela north, that it might not be said he turned his back on his foe. As he [112] retreated, he exclaimed, “Seventeen battles have I witnessed, but till this day never one decided by the sword.” Thus, after a life of success, the wisest, or at least the most learned and most powerful prince of Rajwara, incurred the disgrace of leaving the field in the face of a handful of men, strengthening the adage “that one Rathor equalled ten Kachhwahas.”

Jai Singh’s own bards could not refrain from awarding the meed of valour to their foes, and composed the following stanzas on the occasion: “Is it the battle cry of Kali, or the war-shout of Hanumanta, or the hissing of Seshnag, or the denunciation of Kapaliswar? Is it the incarnation of Narsingh, or the darting beam of Surya? or the death-glance of the Dakini?[10]or that from the central orb of Trinetra?[11]Who could support the flames from this volcano of steel, when Bakhta’s sword became the sickle of Time?”

But for Karna the bard, one of the few remaining about his person, Bakhta would a third time have plunged into the ranks of the foe; nor was it till the host of Amber had left the field that he was aware of the extent of his loss.[12]Then, strange inconsistency! the man, who but a few minutes before had affronted death in every shape, when he beheld the paucity of survivors, sat down and wept like an infant. Still it was more the weakness of ambition than humanity; for, never imagining that his brother would fail to support him, he thought destruction had overtaken Marwar; nor was it until his brother joined and assured him he had left him all the honour of the day, that he recovered his port. Then “he curled his whiskers and swore an oath, that he would yet drag the ‘Bhagat’ from his castle of Amber.”

Jai Singh, though he paid dear for his message, gained his point, the relief of Bikaner; and the Rana of Udaipur mediated to prevent the quarrel going further, which was the less difficult since both parties had gained their ends, though Jai Singh obtained his by the loss of a battle.

Marriage of a God.—It is related that the tutelary deity of Bakhta Singh fell into the hands of the Amber prince, who carried home the sole trophy he could boast, married the Rathor deity to a female divinity of Amber, and returned him with his compliments to Bakhta. Such were the courteous usages of Rajput chivalry. The triple alliance [113] of the chief Rajput princes followed this battle, cemented by the union of the rival houses to daughters of Mewar. There they met, attended by their vassalage, and, in the nuptial festivities and the ‘cup,’ forgot this bitter strife, while enmity and even national jealousy were banished by general courtesy. Such is the Rajput, who can be judged after no known standard: he stands alone in the moral history of man.[13]

Death and Character of Abhai Singh.—This is the last conspicuous act of Abhai Singh’s life on record. He died in S. 1806 (A.D.1750) at Jodhpur. His courage, which may be termed ferocious, was tempered only by his excessive indolence, regarding which they have preserved many amusing anecdotes; one of these will display the exact character of the man. The chronicle says: “When Ajit went to marry the Chauhani, he found two lions in his path—the one asleep, the other awake. The interpretation of the Saguni (augur) was, that the Chauhani would bear him two sons; that one would be asoti kan(sluggard), the other an active soldier.” Could the augur have revealed that they would imbrue their hands in a father’s blood, he might have averted the ruin of his country, which dates from this black deed.

The Rathors profess a great contempt for the Kachhwahas as soldiers; and Abhai Singh’s was not lessened for their prince, because he happened to be father-in-law to the prince of Amber, whom he used to mortify, even in the ‘Presence,’ with such sarcasm as, “You are called a Kachhua, or properly Kuswa, from the Kusa; and your sword will cut as deep as one of itsblades”:[14]alluding to the grass thus called. Irritated, yet fearing to reply, he formed a plan to humble his arrogance in his only vulnerable point, the depreciation of his personal strength. While it was the boast of Jai Singh to mingle the exact sciences of Europe with the more ancient of India, Abhai’s ambition was to be deemed the first swordsman of Rajwara. The scientific prince of Amber gave his cue to Kirparam, the paymaster-general, a favourite with the king, from his skill at chess, and who had often the honour of playing with him while all the nobles were standing. Kirparam praised the Rathor prince’s dexterity in smiting off a buffalo’s head; on which the king called out, “Rajeswar, I have heard much of your skill with the sword.” “Yes, Hazrat, I can use it on an occasion.” A huge animal [114] was brought into the area, fed in the luxuriant pastures of Hariana. The court crowded out to see the Rathor exhibit; but when he beheld the enormous bulk, he turned to the king and begged permission to retire to his post, the imperial guardroom, to refresh himself. Taking a double dose of opium, he returned, his eyes glaring with rage at the trick played upon him, and as he approached the buffalo they fell upon Jai Singh who had procured this monster with a view to foil him. The Amber chief saw that mischief was brewing, and whispered his majesty not to approach too near his son-in-law. Grasping his sword in both hands, Abhai gave the blow with such force that the buffalo’s head “dropped upon his knees,” and the raja was thrown upon his back. All was well; but, as the chronicle says, “the king never asked the raja to decollate another buffalo.”

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