Rāja Mān Singh defends Jodhpur.—Thus far, the scheme of Sawai and the pretender advanced with rapid success. When the allied army reached Merta, the prince of Jaipur, whose object was the princess of Mewar, proposed to Sawai to follow up their good fortune, while he repaired to Udaipur, and solemnized the nuptials. But even in the midst of his revenge, Sawai could distinguish “between the cause of Man Singh and thegaddiof Marwar”; and to promote the success of Jaipur, though he had originated the scheme to serve his own views, was no part of his plan. He was only helped out of this dilemma by another, which he could not anticipate. Not dreaming that Raja Man would hold out in the capital, which had no means of defence, but supposing he would fly to Jalor, and leave Jodhpur to its fate and to the pretender, Sawai, desirous to avoid the further advance of the allies into the country, halted the army for three days at Merta. His foresight was correct: the Raja had reached Bisalpur in full flight to Jalor, when, at the suggestion of Gyanmall Singhi, a civil officer in his train, he changed his intention. “There,” said the Singhi, “lies Jodhpur only nine coss to the right, while Jalor is sixteen further; it is as easy to gain the one as the other, and if you cannot hold out in the capital, what chance have you elsewhere? while you defend your throne your cause is not lost.” Raja Man followed the advice, reached Jodhpur in a few hours, and prepared for his defence. This unexpected change, and the halt of the allied army, which permitted the dispersed bands to gain the capital, defeated the schemes of Sawai.
The Siege of Jodhpur.—With a body of three thousand men, selected from Hindal Khan’s brigade, the corps of Bishanswamis, under Kaimdas, and one thousand foreign Rajputs, consisting of Chauhans, Bhattis, and Indhas (the ancient lords of Mandor), Raja Man formed a garrison of five thousand men, on whom he could depend. So ample did he deem this number, that he dispatched strong garrisons from Hindal’s brigade, with some Deora Rajputs, to garrison Jalor, and preserve the distant castle of Umarkot from surprise by the Sindis. Having thus provided against the storm [145] he fearlessly awaited the result. But so alienated was his mind from his kindred, that he would noteven admit to the honour of defending his throne the four faithful chieftains who, in the general desertion, had abided by his fortunes. To all their entreaties to be received into the castle, that “they might defend thekunguras(battlements) of Jodha,” he replied, they might defend the city if they pleased; and disgusted with such a return for their fidelity, they increased the train of his opponents, who soon encompassed Jodhpur.
The town, little capable of defence, was taken and given up to unlicensed plunder; and with the exception of Phalodi, which was gallantly defended for three months, and given to Bikaner as the reward of its alliance, theanof the pretender was proclaimed throughout Marwar, and his allies only awaited the fall of the capital, which appeared inevitable, to proclaim him king. But a circumstance occurred, which, awakening the patriotism of the Rathors, thwarted these fair prospects, relieved Raja Man from his peril, and involved his adversaries in the net of destruction which they had woven for him.
The siege had lasted five months without any diminution of the ardour of the defenders; and although the defences of the north-east angle were destroyed, the besiegers, having a perpendicular rock of eighty feet to ascend before they could get to the breach, were not nearer their object, and, in fact, without shells, the castle of Jodha would laugh a siege to scorn. The numerous and motley force under the banners of Jaipur and the pretender, became clamorous for pay; the forage was exhausted, and the partisan horse were obliged to bivouac in the distant districts to the south. Availing himself of their separation from the main body, Amir Khan, an apt pupil of the Mahratta school, began to raise contributions on the fiscal lands, and Pali, Pipar, Bhilara, with many others, were compelled to accede to his demands. The estates of the nobles who espoused the cause of the pretender, fared no better, and they complained to the Xerxes of this host of the conduct of this unprincipled commander.
Amir Khān supports Mān Singh. Defeat of the Jaipur ArmyA.D.1806.—The protracted defence having emptied the treasury of Amber, the arch-intriguer of Pokaran was called upon to contribute towards satisfying the clamour of the troops. Having exhausted the means of his own party, he applied to the four chieftains who had been induced to join the cause of the pretender by the suspicions of Raja Man, to advance a sum of money.This appeal proved a test of [146] their zeal. They abandoned the pretender, and proceeded direct to the camp of Amir Khan. It required no powerful rhetoric to detach him from the cause and prevail upon him to advocate that of Raja Man; nor could they have given him better counsel towards this end, than the proposal to carry the war into the enemy’s country: to attack and plunder Jaipur, now left unguarded. At this critical moment, the Jaipur prince, in consequence of the representation of the Marwar chiefs, had directed his commander-in-chief, Sheolal, to chastise Amir Khan for his lawless conduct. Sheolal put a stop to their deliberations, attacked and drove them across the Luni, surprised them at Govindgarh, again in a night attack at Harsuri, and pursued the Khan to Phaggi,[10]at the very frontier of Jaipur. Astonished at his own success, and little aware that the chase was in the direction projected by his enemy, Sheolal deemed he had accomplished his orders in driving him out of Marwar; halted, and leaving his camp, repaired to Jaipur to partake of its festivities. The Khan, who with his allies had reached Pipla near Tonk, no sooner heard of this, than he called to his aid the heavy brigades of Muhammad Shah Khan and Raja Bahadur (then besieging Isarda[11]), and availed himself of the imprudent absence of his foe to gain over the Haidarabad Rasala, a legion well known in the predatory wars of that period. Having effected this object, he assailed the Jaipur force, which, notwithstanding this defection and the absence of its commander, fought with great valour, the battalions of Hira Singh being nearly cut to pieces. The action ended in the entire defeat of the Jaipurians, and the capture of their camp, guns, and equipage. Prompted by the Rathor chieftains, whose valour led to this result, Amir Khan rapidly followed up his success, and Jaipur was dismayed by the presence of the victor at her gates. The generalship of the Khan was the salvation of Raja Man; it dissolved the confederacy, and fixed the doom of Sawai, its projector.
The Confederacy against Jodhpur dissolved.—The tempest had been some time gathering; the Rajas of Bikaner and Shahpura had already withdrawn from the confederacy and marched home, when, like a clap of thunder, the effeminate Kachhwaha, who had in the outset of this crusade looked to a full harvest both of gloryand of love, learned that his army was annihilated, and his capital invested by the Khan and a handful of Rathors. Duped by the representations of Sawai, Rae Chand, Diwan or prime minister of Jaipur, concealed for some days these disasters from his sovereign, who received the intelligence by a special messenger sent by the queen-mother. Enraged, perplexed, and alarmed [147] for his personal safety, he broke up the siege, and sending on in advance the spoils of Jodhpur (including forty pieces of cannon), with his own chieftains, he sent for the Mahratta leaders,[12]and offered them £120,000 to escort him in safety to his capital; nay, he secretly bribed, with a bond of £90,000 more, the author of his disgrace, Amir Khan, not to intercept his retreat, which was signally ignominious, burning his tents and equipage at every stage, and at length with his own hand destroying his favourite elephant, which wanted “speed for the rapidity of his flight.”
Jodhpur Booty recovered.—But the indignities he had to suffer were not over. The chieftains whose sagacity and valour had thus diverted the storm from Raja Man, determined that no trophies of Rathor disgrace should enter Jaipur, united their clans about twenty miles east of Merta, on the line of retreat, appointing Induraj Singhi their leader. This person, who had held the office of Diwan under two predecessors of Raja Man, was driven to a temporary defection from the same suspicions which made the chiefs join the pretender. But they resolved to wash away the stain of this brief alienation from Raja Man with the blood of his enemies, and to present as a token of returning fidelity the recaptured trophies. The encounter took place on the joint frontier. It was short, but furious; and the Kachhwahas, who could not withstand the Rathors, were defeated and dispersed, and the spoils of the spoiler, including the forty cannon, were safely lodged in Kuchaman. Flushed with success, the victors addressed the Raja of Kishangarh, who, though a Rathor,had kept aloof, to advance funds to secure the continuance of Amir Khan’s aid. Two lakhs of rupees (£20,000) effected this object; and the Khan, pledging himself to continue his support to Raja Man, repaired to Jodhpur. The four chiefs who had thus signalized themselves, preceded him, and were received with open arms: their offences were forgiven, and their estates restored, while Induraj was appointed Bakhshi or commander of the forces [148].
1. My own venerable tutor, Yati Gyanchandra, who was with me for ten years, said he owed all his knowledge, especially his skill in reciting poetry (in which he surpassed all the bards at Udaipur), to Zalim Singh. [He died at Kāchbali in the British District of Merwāra in 1799 (Erskine iii. A. 70).]
1. My own venerable tutor, Yati Gyanchandra, who was with me for ten years, said he owed all his knowledge, especially his skill in reciting poetry (in which he surpassed all the bards at Udaipur), to Zalim Singh. [He died at Kāchbali in the British District of Merwāra in 1799 (Erskine iii. A. 70).]
2. [138] Amongst the numerous autograph correspondence of the princes of Rajputana with the princes of Mewar, of which I had the free use, I selected one letter of S. 1784,A.D.1728, written conjointly by Jai Singh of Amber and Abhai Singh of Jodhpur, regarding Idar, and which is so curious, that I give a verbatim translation in the Appendix (No.I.). [See end of Vol. III.] I little thought at the time how completely it would prove Abhai Singh’s determination to cut off all but his own parricidal issue from the succession. An inspection of the genealogy (p.1075) will show that Anand Singh, of Idar, who was not to be allowed “to escape alive,” was his younger brother, adopted into that house.
2. [138] Amongst the numerous autograph correspondence of the princes of Rajputana with the princes of Mewar, of which I had the free use, I selected one letter of S. 1784,A.D.1728, written conjointly by Jai Singh of Amber and Abhai Singh of Jodhpur, regarding Idar, and which is so curious, that I give a verbatim translation in the Appendix (No.I.). [See end of Vol. III.] I little thought at the time how completely it would prove Abhai Singh’s determination to cut off all but his own parricidal issue from the succession. An inspection of the genealogy (p.1075) will show that Anand Singh, of Idar, who was not to be allowed “to escape alive,” was his younger brother, adopted into that house.
3. Dhonkal Singh, the posthumous issue of Bhim, the last of the parricidal line, whether real or supposititious, must be set aside, and the pure current of Rathor blood, derived from Siahji, Jodha, Jaswant, and Ajit, be brought from Idar, and installed on “the gaddi of Jodha.” This course of proceeding would meet universal approbation, with the exception of some selfish miscreants about the person of this pretended son of Bhim, or the chieftain of Pokaran, in furtherance of his and his grandfather’s yet unavenged feud. A sketch of the events, drawn from their own chronicles, and accompanied by reflections, exposing the miseries springing from an act of turpitude, would come home to all, and they would shower blessings on the power which, while it fulfilled the duties of protector, destroyed the germ of internal dissension, and gave them a prince of their own pure blood, whom all parties could honour and obey. If a doubt remained of the probable unanimity of such policy, let it be previously submitted to apanchayat, composed of the princes of the land, namely, of Mewar, Amber, Kotah, Bundi, Jaisalmer, etc., leaving out whichever may be influenced by marriage connexions with Dhonkal Singh.
3. Dhonkal Singh, the posthumous issue of Bhim, the last of the parricidal line, whether real or supposititious, must be set aside, and the pure current of Rathor blood, derived from Siahji, Jodha, Jaswant, and Ajit, be brought from Idar, and installed on “the gaddi of Jodha.” This course of proceeding would meet universal approbation, with the exception of some selfish miscreants about the person of this pretended son of Bhim, or the chieftain of Pokaran, in furtherance of his and his grandfather’s yet unavenged feud. A sketch of the events, drawn from their own chronicles, and accompanied by reflections, exposing the miseries springing from an act of turpitude, would come home to all, and they would shower blessings on the power which, while it fulfilled the duties of protector, destroyed the germ of internal dissension, and gave them a prince of their own pure blood, whom all parties could honour and obey. If a doubt remained of the probable unanimity of such policy, let it be previously submitted to apanchayat, composed of the princes of the land, namely, of Mewar, Amber, Kotah, Bundi, Jaisalmer, etc., leaving out whichever may be influenced by marriage connexions with Dhonkal Singh.
4. This mark of mourning is common to all India. Where this evidence of manhood is not yet visible, the hair is cut off; often both.
4. This mark of mourning is common to all India. Where this evidence of manhood is not yet visible, the hair is cut off; often both.
5.Vaidya, or ‘learned man’; the termvedais also used to denote cunning, magic, or knowledge of whatever kind.
5.Vaidya, or ‘learned man’; the termvedais also used to denote cunning, magic, or knowledge of whatever kind.
6. They follow the doctrines of Vishnu (Bishan). They ate termed Gosains, as well as the more numerous class of church militants, devoted to Siva. Both arecélibataires, as Gosain imports, from mastery (sain) over the sense (go). They occasionally come in contact, when their sectarian principles end in furious combats. At the celebrated place of pilgrimage, Haridwar (Hardwar), on the Ganges, we are obliged to have soldiers to keep the peace, since a battle occurred, in which they fought almost to extirpation, about twenty years ago. They are the Templars of Rajasthan. [Gosāīn, Skt.gosvāmin, ‘master of cows: one who is master of his organs of sense.’ The Bishan or Vishnuswāmis are a group of Bairāgi ascetics, who are said to have come to Mārwār aboutA.D.1779, in the reign of Bijai Singh. Some of them are now employed as State sepoys (Census Report, Mārwār, 1891, ii. 86). In 1760 the rival mobs of Gosāīns and Bairāgis fought a battle, in which 1800 are said to have perished (IGI, xiii. 53).]
6. They follow the doctrines of Vishnu (Bishan). They ate termed Gosains, as well as the more numerous class of church militants, devoted to Siva. Both arecélibataires, as Gosain imports, from mastery (sain) over the sense (go). They occasionally come in contact, when their sectarian principles end in furious combats. At the celebrated place of pilgrimage, Haridwar (Hardwar), on the Ganges, we are obliged to have soldiers to keep the peace, since a battle occurred, in which they fought almost to extirpation, about twenty years ago. They are the Templars of Rajasthan. [Gosāīn, Skt.gosvāmin, ‘master of cows: one who is master of his organs of sense.’ The Bishan or Vishnuswāmis are a group of Bairāgi ascetics, who are said to have come to Mārwār aboutA.D.1779, in the reign of Bijai Singh. Some of them are now employed as State sepoys (Census Report, Mārwār, 1891, ii. 86). In 1760 the rival mobs of Gosāīns and Bairāgis fought a battle, in which 1800 are said to have perished (IGI, xiii. 53).]
7. One of the principal chiefs of the Shaikhawat confederation. [Khetri is about 80 miles N. of Jaipur city (IGI, xv. 276).]
7. One of the principal chiefs of the Shaikhawat confederation. [Khetri is about 80 miles N. of Jaipur city (IGI, xv. 276).]
8. [Godlenā, ‘to take on the lap,’ the technical form of adoption, or of recognition of legitimacy.]
8. [Godlenā, ‘to take on the lap,’ the technical form of adoption, or of recognition of legitimacy.]
9. [About 110 miles N.E. of Jodhpur city, S.W. of the Sāmbhar Lake.]
9. [About 110 miles N.E. of Jodhpur city, S.W. of the Sāmbhar Lake.]
10. [About 32 miles S. of Jaipur city.]
10. [About 32 miles S. of Jaipur city.]
11. [About 60 miles S.S.W. of Jaipur city.]
11. [About 60 miles S.S.W. of Jaipur city.]
12. Bapu Sindkia, Bala Rao Inglia, with the brigade of Jean Baptiste, all Sindhia’s dependents. This was early in 1806. The author was then in Sindhia’s camp and saw these troops marched off; and in 1807, in a geographical tour, he penetrated to Jaipur, and witnessed the wrecks of the Jaipur army. The sands round the capital were white with the bones of horses, and the ashes of their riders, who had died in the vain expectation of getting their arrears of pay.
12. Bapu Sindkia, Bala Rao Inglia, with the brigade of Jean Baptiste, all Sindhia’s dependents. This was early in 1806. The author was then in Sindhia’s camp and saw these troops marched off; and in 1807, in a geographical tour, he penetrated to Jaipur, and witnessed the wrecks of the Jaipur army. The sands round the capital were white with the bones of horses, and the ashes of their riders, who had died in the vain expectation of getting their arrears of pay.
Amīr Khān received at Jodhpur.—Amir Khan was received by Raja Man with distinguished honours; a palace in the castle was assigned as his residence; valuable gifts were presented to him and great rewards held in perspective, if, through his agency, the rebellion should be completely subdued. He swore to extirpate Sawai’s faction, and in token of identity of views with Raja Man, he was admitted to the honour of that last proof of devotion to his cause, “an interchange of turbans,” with an advance of three lakhs, or £30,000, for the immediate payment of his bonds.
On the raising of the siege of Jodhpur, Sawai conducted the pretender to the appanage of the heirs of Marwar, the city of Nagor. There they were deliberating as to their future plans, when a message was brought from Amir Khan from [149] Mundiawar,[1]ten miles distant, begging permission to perform his devotions at the shrine of the Muslim saint, Pir Tarkin, the sole relic of the Islamite, which Bakhta Singh had spared. His request being complied with, he with a slight cavalcade left his camp, and having gone through the mummeries of devotion, paid his respects to Sawai. When about to take leave, he threw out hints of Raja Man’s ungrateful return for his services, and that his legions might have been better employed. Sawai greedily caught at the bait; he desired the Khan to name his terms, and offered £200,000 on the day that Dhonkal should possess thegaddiof Jodhpur. The Khan accepted the conditions and ratified the engagement on the Koran, and to add to the solemnityof the pledge, he exchanged turbans with Sawai. This being done, he was introduced to the pretender, received the usual gifts, pledged his life in his cause, took leave, and returned to his camp, whither he invited the prince and his chiefs on the following day to accept of an entertainment.
Amīr Khān massacres the Chiefs.—On the morning of the 19th of Chait, S. 1864 (A.D.1808), Sawai, attended by the chief adherents of the pretender and about five hundred followers, repaired to the camp of the Khan, who had made every preparation for the more effectual perpetration of the bloody and perfidious deed he meditated. A spacious tent was pitched in the centre of his camp for the reception of his guests, and cannon were loaded with grape ready to be turned against them. The visitors were received with the most distinguished courtesy; turbans were again exchanged; the dancing-girls were introduced, and nothing but festivity was apparent. The Khan arose, and making an excuse to his guests for a momentary absence, retired. The dancing continued, when at the word ‘dhaga,’ pronounced by the musicians, down sunk the tent upon the unsuspicious Rajputs, who fell an easy prey to the ferocious Pathans. Forty-two chieftains were thus butchered in the very sanctuary of hospitality, and the heads of the most distinguished were sent to Raja Man. Their adherents, taken by surprise, were slaughtered by the soldiery, or by cannon charged with grape, as they fled. The pretender escaped from Nagor, which was plundered by the Khan, when not only all the property of the party, but the immense stores left by Bakhta Singh, including three hundred pieces of cannon, were taken, and sent to Sambhar and other strongholds held by the Khan. Having thus fulfilled his instructions, he repaired to Jodhpur, and received ten lakhs or £100,000, and [150] two large towns, Mundiawar and Kuchilawas, of thirty thousand rupees annual rent, besides one hundred rupees daily for table-allowance, as the reward of his signal infamy.
Thus, by the murder of Sawai and his powerful partisans, the confederacy against Raja Man was extinguished; but though the Raja had thus, miraculously as it were, defeated the gigantic schemes formed against him, the mode by which it was effected entailed upon him and upon his country unexampled miseries. The destruction of the party of the pretender was followed by retaliation on the various members of the league. The Jaipurterritory was laid waste by the troops of Amir Khan, and an expedition was planned against Bikaner. An army consisting of twelve thousand of Raja Man’s feudal levies, under the command of Induraj, with a brigade of Amir Khan, and that of Hindal Khan with thirty-five guns, marched against the chief of the independent Rathors. The Bikaner Raja formed an army little inferior in numbers, and gave his suzerain the meeting at Bapri; but after a partial encounter, in which the former lost two hundred men, he fell back upon his capital, pursued by the victors, who halted at Gajner.[2]Here terms were offered; two lakhs as the expenses of the war, and the surrender of the bone of contention, the town of Phalodi, which had been assigned to Bikaner as the price of joining the confederacy.
Amīr Khān rules Mārwār.—The Khan was now the arbiter of Marwar. He stationed Ghafur Khan with a garrison in Nagor, and partitioned the lands of Merta amongst his followers. He likewise placed his garrison in the castle of Nawa, which gave him the command of the salt-lakes of Nawa and Sambhar. Induraj and the high-priest Deonath were the only counsellors of Raja Man, and all the oppressions which the chieftains suffered through this predominant foreign interference, were attributed to their advice. To cut them off the chiefs in their turn applied to Amir Khan, who for seven lakhs (£70,000), readily consented to rid them of their enemies. A plot was laid, in which some of his Pathans, under pretence of quarrelling with Induraj for their arrears, put this minister and the high-priest to death.
Insanity of Mān Singh.—The loss of Deonath appeared to affect the reason of Raja Man. He shut himself up in his apartments, refused to communicate with any one, and soon omitted every duty, whether political or religious, until at length he was recommended to name his only son Chhattar Singh as his successor. To this he acceded [151], and with his own hand made the mark of inauguration on his forehead. But youth and base panders to his pleasure seduced him from his duties, and he died, some say the victim of illicit pursuits, others from a wound given by the hand of one of the chieftains, whose daughter he attempted to seduce.
The premature death of his only son, before he had attained the years of majority, still more alienated the mind of Raja Manfrom all State affairs, and his suspicions of treacherous attempts on his person extended even to his wife. He refused all food, except that which was brought by one faithful menial. He neglected his ablutions, allowed his face to be covered with hair, and at length either was, or affected to be insane. He spoke to no one, and listened with the apathy of an idiot to the communications of the ministers, who were compelled to carry on the government. By many it is firmly believed that the part he thus acted was feigned, to escape the snares laid for his life; while others think that it was a melancholy mania, arising from remorse at having consented to the murder of Induraj, which incidentally involved that of the Guru.[3]In short, his alliance with the atrocious Khan exposed him to the suspicion of a participation in his crimes, which the bent of his policy too much favoured. In this condition—the government being managed by an oligarchy headed by Salim Singh (son of Sawai)—did Raja Man remain, until the tide of events carried the arms of Britain even to the desert of Maru.
British Intervention. Restoration of Mān Singh.—When, in 1817, we invited the Rajputs to disunite from the predatory powers, and to join us in establishing order throughout India, the young son of Raja Man, or rather his ministers, sent envoys to Delhi. But ere the treaty was ratified, this dissipated youth was no more. On this event, the Pokaran faction, dreading Raja Man’s resumption of the government, made an application to Idar for a son to adopt as their sovereign. But splendid as was the offer, the Raja, who had but one son, rejected it, unless the demand were sustained by the unanimous suffrages of the nobles. Unanimity being unattainable, the faction had no alternative save the restoration of Raja Man; but it was in vain they explained the new position of Marwar, the alliance with the English, which awaited his sanction, and the necessity that he, as the last prop of the royal family, should resume the reins of power. He listened to all with the most apathetic indifference [152]. But although he saw in this new crisis of the political condition of his country, motives for effecting his escape from bondage, his mind was so tutored by bitter experience that he never for an instant betrayed its workings. When at length he allowed himself to comprehend the full nature of the changes which made even thefaction desire his egress from solitude, so far from expressing any joy, he even disapproved of part of the treaty, and especially the article relating to the armed contingent of his vassals to be at the disposal of the protecting power, in which he wisely saw the germ of discord, from the certainty of interference it would lead to.
Treaty with the British.—It was in December 1817 that the treaty[4]was negotiated at Delhi by a Brahman named Byas Bishan Ram, on the part of the regent prince, and in December 1818, an officer of the British government[5]was deputed to report on its actual condition. Notwithstanding the total disorganization of the government, from the combination of causes already described, the court had lost nothing of its splendour or regularity; the honour of all was concerned in preserving the dignity of thegaddi, though its incumbent was an object of distrust and even detestation. The ministry at this period was conducted by Akhai Chand (Diwan), and Salim Singh of Pokaran, as the representative of the aristocracy, with the title of Bhanjghar. All the garrisons and offices of trust throughout the country were held by the creatures of a junto, of which these were the heads. There was, however, already the nucleus of an opposition in the brother of the murdered minister, named Fateh Raj, who was entrusted with the care of the city. The instructions of the agent were to offer the aid of the British government towards the settlement of Raja Man’s affairs; and at a private interview, three days after the agent’s arrival, troops were offered to be placed at his disposal. But the wariness of his character will be seen in the use he made of this offer. He felt that the lever was at hand to crush faction to the dust; and with a Machiavellian caution, he determined that the existence of this engine should suffice; that its power should be felt, but never seen; that he should enjoy all the advantages this influence would give, without risking any of its dangers if called into action. Thus, while he rejected, though with thanks, the essential benefit tendered, qualifying his refusal with a sufficient reason—“reliance on himself to restore his State to order”—he failed not to [153] disseminate the impression amongst his chiefs, which was enough for his purpose, and which besides checked the dictation and interference that uniformly result from such unequal alliances.
Energetic counsels and rapid decision are unknown to Asiatic governments, whose subjects are ever prone to suspicion whenever unusual activity is visible; and Raja Man had been schooled into circumspection from his infancy. He appeared anxious to bury the past in oblivion, by choosing men of both parties for the inferior duties of the ministry; and the blandness of his manners and his conciliatory address lulled the most suspicious into security. After a short residence, the Agent returned to Ajmer, having in vain tried to convince Raja Man that his affairs were irretrievable without the direct aid of the paramount power, which he persisted in repudiating, assigning as his reason that he felt convinced, from “the measures then in train,” he should accomplish the task himself: of these measures conciliation appeared to be the basis.
The Author appointed Envoy to Jodhpur.—At this period[6]an envoy was appointed, with powers direct from the Governor-General to Raja Man, but he was for some months prevented from proceeding to his court, from various causes.[7]
Demoralization at Jodhpur.—The Agent, who reached Jodhpur early in the month of November, found matters [154] in nearly the same state as on his predecessor’s departure in February. The same faction kept the prince and all the officers of government at their disposal. The Raja interfered but little with their measures, except to acquiesce in or confirm them. The mercenary bands of Sindis or Pathans were in miserable plight and clamorous for their pay, not having been accounted with for three years; and they were to be seen begging in the streets of the capital, or hawking bundles of forage on their heads to preserve them from starvation. On the approach of the Agent of the British Government, the forms of accounts were gone through, and they gave in acquittances in full of demands, on condition of receiving 30 per cent of their arrears; but this was only a form, and with his departure (in about three weeks), they despaired even of that.
The name of justice was unknown:—though, in allusion to the religion of the men in power, it was common to hear it said, “You may commit murder and no one will notice it; but woe to him who beats or maims a brute, for dogs are publicly fed while the soldier starves.” In short, the sole object of the faction was to keep at a distance all interposition that might lead the prince to emancipate himself from their control. During the Agent’s stay of nearly three weeks, he had several private interviews with Raja Man. The knowledge he had of the history of his ancestry and his own situation, and of the causes which had produced it, failed not to beget a corresponding confidence; and these interviews were passed in discussions on the ancient history of the country as well as on his own immediate affairs. The Agent took leave with these words: “I know all the perils through which you have passed; I am aware how you surmounted them.By your resolution, your external enemies are now gone: you have the British Government as a friend; rely upon it with the same fortitude, and, in a very short time, all will be as you could desire.”
Raja Man listened eagerly to these observations. His fine features, though trained to bear no testimony to the workings within, relaxed with delight as he rapidly replied, “In one twelve-months, my affairs will be as friendship could wish.” To which the Agent rejoined, “In half the time, Maharaja, if you are determined”: though the points to which he had to direct his mind were neither few nor slight, for they involved every branch of government; as
Reforms in Mārwār.—1. Forming an efficient administration [155].
2. Consideration of the finances; the condition of the crown lands; the feudal confiscations, which, often unjust, had caused great discontent.
3. The reorganization and settlement of the foreign troops, on whose service the Raja chiefly depended.
4. An effective police on all the frontiers, to put down the wholesale pillage of the Mers in the south, the Larkhanis in the north, and the desert Sahariyas and Khosas in the west; reformation of the tariff, or scale of duties on commerce, which were so heavy as almost to amount to prohibition; and at the same time to provide for its security.
Scarcely had the Agent left Jodhpur, before the faction, rejoiced at the removal of the only restraint on their narrow-minded views, proceeded in the career of disorder. Whether the object were to raise funds, or to gratify ancient animosities, the course pursued by the Diwan and his junto was the same. Ghanerao, the chief fief of Godwar, was put under sequestration, and only released by a fine of more than a year’s revenue. All the minor chiefs of this rich tract suffered in the same manner, besides the indignity of having their lands placed under the control of a brother of the minister. Chandawal[8]was put under sequestration, and only released on a very heavy fine. At length the Diwan had the audacity to put his hand on Awa, the chief fief of Marwar; but the descendant of Champa replied, “My estate is not of to-day, nor thus to be relinquished.” Gloom, mistrust, and resentmentpervaded the whole feudal body. They saw a contemptible faction sporting with their honour and possessions, from an idea they industriously propagated, that an unseen but mighty power was at hand to support their acts, given out as those of the prince. If the Raja did dictate them, he took especial care it should not be seen; for in the absence of the British Agent, he once more resumed his sequestered habits, and appeared to take no interest in the government further than to promote a coalition between Akhai Chand and Fateh Raj, who was supported by a strong party of the chiefs, and the influence of the favourite queen. But Akhai Chand, who commanded, through his creatures, all the resources of the country, and its strongholds, even to the castle of Jodhpur, rejected these overtures, and feigning that there were plots against his personal safety, left the city; and the better to exclude his adversaries from the prince, resided entirely in the citadel.
Cruelty of Rāja Mān Singh.—Six months had thus fled. The fiat of Akhai Chand was supreme; he alone was [156] visible; his orders alone were obeyed. Raja Man was only heard of as an automaton, moving as the Diwan pleased. But while the latter was thus basking in the full sunshine of prosperity, enriching himself and his dependents, execrated by the nobles and envied by his fellow-citizens, they heard of his fall! Then, the insanity of his master proved to be but a cloak to the intensity of his resentment. But a blind revenge would not have satisfied Raja Man. The victims of his deep dissimulation, now in manacles, were indulged with hopes of life, which, with the application of torture, made them reveal the plunder of prince and subject. A schedule of forty lakhs, or £400,000, was given in by the Diwan and his dependents, and their accounts being settled in this world, they were summarily dismissed to the other, with every mark of ignominy which could add to the horrors of death. Nagji, the Kiladar,[9]and misleader of the late regent prince, with Mulji Dandal, one of the old allodial stock, had each a cup of poison, and their bodies were thrown over the ‘Gate of Victory’ (Fateh Pol). Jivaraj, a brother of the Dandal, with Biharidas Khichi, and the tailor, had their heads shaved, and their bodies were flung into the cascade beneath. Even the sacred character of “expounder of the Vedas,” and that of“revealer of the secrets of heaven,” yielded no protection; and Byas Sheodas, with Srikishan, Jotishi, the astrologer, were in the long list of proscriptions. Nagji, commandant of the citadel, and Mulji, had retired on the death of the regent-prince; and with the wealth they had accumulated, while administering to his follies, had erected places of strength. On the restoration of Raja Man, and the general amnesty which prevailed, they returned to their ancient offices in the castle, rose into favour, and forgot they had been traitors. Having obtained their persons, Man secured the ancient jewels of the crown, bestowed on these favourites during the ephemeral sway of his son. Their condemnation was then passed, and they were hurled over the battlements of the rock which it was their duty to guard. With such consummate skill was the plot contrived, that the creatures of the minister, in the most remote districts, were imprisoned simultaneously with himself. Of the many subordinate agents thus confined, many were liberated on the disclosure of their wealth; and by these sequestrations, Raja Man obtained abundant supplies. The enormous sum of a crore, or near one million sterling, was stated; but if they yielded one-half (and this was not unlikely), they gave the means, which he was not slow to use, for the prosecution of what he termed a just punishment, though it [157] better deserves the name of a savage revenge. Had he been satisfied with inflicting the last penalty of the law on the nefarious Akhai Chand, and some of the household officers whose fidelity ought ever to be firm, and with the sequestration of the estates of some two or three of the vassals whose power had become dangerous, or their treason too manifest to be overlooked, he would have commanded the services of the rest, and the admiration of all conversant with these events. But this first success added fuel to his revenge, and he sought out more noble victims to glut it. His circumspection and dissimulation were strengthened, not relaxed, by his success. Several of the chiefs, who were marked out for death, had received, only a few days before, the highest proof of favour in additional lands to their rent-roll, and accident alone prevented a group of the most conspicuous from falling into the snare which had inveigled Akhai Chand. Salim Singh of Pokaran, and his constant associate Surthan of Nimaj, with Anar Singh of Ahor, and the minors of their clans, whose duty daily carried them to the court, as thechief advisers of the prince, formed a part of the administration of the Diwan, and they naturally took alarm upon his confinement. To obviate this, a deputation was sent by the prince to tranquillize them by the assurance that, in the confinement of the minister, whose rapacity and misconduct deserved punishment, the Raja had attained all his ends. Thus, in order to encompass the destruction of the Pokaran chief, he would not have scrupled to involve all the rest. The prince, with his own mouth, desired the confidential servant of Anar Singh, who was his personal friend, to attend with the others. Their distrust saved him. The same night, the mercenary bands, to the number of eight thousand men, with guns, attacked Surthan Singh in his dwelling. With one hundred and eighty of his clan, he defended himself against great guns and small arms, as long as the house was tenable, and then sallied out sword in hand, and, with his brother and eighty of his kin, fell nobly in the midst of his foes. The remainder retreated with their arms to defend Nimaj and their infant chief. This gallant defence, in which many of the townspeople were slain, prevented a repetition of the attempt against the Pokaran chief, who remained on the defensive; until, seeing an opportunity, he fled to his asylum in the desert, or he would that day have renounced “the sheath of the dagger which held the fortunes of Marwar,” and which now contained the accumulated revenge of four generations: of Deo Singh, of Sabhala, of Sawai, and his own. His death would have terminated this branch of Ajit’s issue, adopted into the house of [158] Pokaran, in the history of which we have a tolerable picture of the precariousness of existence in Marwar.[10]
What better commentary can be made on Raja Man’s character, than the few recorded words addressed to Fateh Raj,whom he sent for to the Presence, on the day succeeding these events? “Now you may perceive the reasons why I did not sooner give you office.” This individual, the brother of the late Induraj, was forthwith installed in the post of Diwan; and with the sinews of war provided by the late sequestrations, the troops were satisfied, while by the impression so sedulously propagated and believed, that he had only to call on the British power for what aid he required, the whole feudal body was appalled: and the men, who would have hurled the tyrant from his throne, now only sought to avoid his insidious snares, more dangerous than open force.
Nimaj was besieged and nobly defended; but at length the son of Surthan capitulated, on receiving the sign-manual of his prince promising pardon and restoration, guaranteed by the commander of the mercenary bands. To the eternal disgrace of the Raja, he broke this pledge, and the boy had scarcely appeared in the besieging camp, when the civil officer produced the Raja’s mandate for his captivity and transmission to the Presence. If it is painful to record this fact, it is pleasing to add, that even the mercenary commander spurned the infamous injunction. “No,” said he; “on the faith of my pledge (bachan) he surrendered; and if the Raja breaks his word, I will maintain mine, and at least place him in security.” He kept his promise, and conveyed him to the Aravalli mountains, whence he passed over to, and received protection in Mewar.
Estrangement of the Chiefs.—This and similar acts of treachery and cold-blooded tyranny completely estranged all the chiefs. Isolated as they were, they could make no resistance against the mercenary battalions, amounting to ten thousand men, exclusive of the quotas; and they dared not league for defence, from the dreaded threat held over them, of calling in the British troops; and in a few months the whole feudal association of [159] Marwar abandoned their homes and their country, seeking shelter in the neighbouring States from the Raja’s cruel and capricious tyranny. To his connexion with the British Government alone he was indebted for his being able thus to put forth the resources of his policy, which otherwise he never could have developed either with safety or effect; nor at any former period of the history of Marwar could the most daring of its princes have undertaken, with any prospect of success, what Raja Man accomplished under this alliance.
These brave men found asyla in the neighbouring States of Kotah, Mewar, Bikaner, and Jaipur. Even the faithful Anar Singh, whose fidelity no gratitude could ever repay, was obliged to seek refuge in exile. He had stood Man’s chief shield against the proscription of Raja Bhim, when cooped up in Jalor, and sold his wife’s ornaments, “even to her nose-ring,” to procure him the means of subsistence and defence. It was Anar Singh who saved him when, in the attempt upon Pali, he was unhorsed and nearly made prisoner. He was among the four chiefs who remained by his fortunes when the rest deserted to the standard of the pretender; and he was one of the same body, who rescued the trophies of their disgrace from the hands of their enemies when on the road to Jaipur. Last of all, he was mainly instrumental in the Raja’s emancipation and in his resumption of the reins of government. Well might the fury of his revenge deserve the term of madness! InA.D.1821, the greater chieftains of Marwar, thus driven into exile, were endeavouring to obtain the mediation of the British authorities; but another year had elapsed without the slightest advance to accommodation. Their conduct has been exemplary, but their degrading position, dependent on the scanty resources of others, must of itself work a cure. Their manly remonstrance addressed to the British functionary is already before the reader.[11]He did not hesitate to tell them, that if in due time no mediation was held out, they must depend on themselves for redress!
Such was the political condition of Marwar until the year 1823. Had a demoniacal spirit of revenge not blinded Raja Man, he had a fine opportunity to lay the principles of order on a permanent basis, and to introduce those reforms necessary for his individual welfare as well as for that of the State. He had it in his power to modify the institutions, to curb without destroying the feudal chiefs, and [160] to make the whole subservient to the altered condition of affairs. Instead of having the glory of fixing the constitution of his country, he has (reposing on external protection) broken up the entire feudal association, and rendered the paramount power an object of hatred instead of reverence.