Chapter 27 (2)

Next comes Ramdeo[4.27.28] Rathor, a name famed in Marudesa, and in whose honour altars are raised in every Rajput village in the country.

Then we have the brave Harbuji Sankhla,[4.27.29] to whom Jodha was indebted for protection in his exile, and for the redemption of Mandor when seized by the Rana of Chitor.

Guga,[4.27.30] the Chauhan, who with his forty-seven sons fell defending the passage of the Sutlej on Mahmud’s invasion. Mehaji Mangalia brings up the rear, a famous chieftain of the Guhilot race. It would be tedious to relate any of the exploits of these worthies.

=Taintīs Kula Devata Ra Thān.=—Another saloon, of similar architecture and still greater dimensions, adjoins that just described; it is termed Taintis kula[4.27.31] devata ra than, or ‘abode of the (tutelary) divinities of the thirty-three races’: in short, the Pantheon of the Rajputs. The statues are of gypsum, or stone covered with that substance; they are of large proportions. First, is the creator, Brahma; then Surya, ‘the sun-god,’ with his seven-headed steed; then the monkey-faced deity, Hanuman; Rama, and his beloved Sita; Kanhaiya, in the woods of Vraj, surrounded by the Gopis; and a most grave figure of Mahadeva, with a bull in his hand. These six, with the goddesses of life and death, and of wisdom, constitute the eight chief divinities of the Hindus; whose qualities and attributes, personified, form an assemblage for which St. Peter’s and the Vatican to boot would be a confined dwelling.

MALLINĀTH. NĀTHJI.
Rock Sculptures at Mandor.
_To face page 844._
]

=Palace and Gardens.=—I now retired to the palace and gardens built by Raja Ajit; of which, however superb, it is impossible for the pen to give a definite idea. Suites of colonnaded halls, covered with sculpture of easy and even graceful execution, some with screens of lattice-work to secure the ladies from the public gaze, are on the lower range; while staircases lead to smaller apartments intended for repose. The gardens, though not extensive, as may be supposed, being confined within the adamantine walls reared by the hand of Nature, must be delightfully cool even in summer. Fountains, reservoirs, and water-courses, are everywhere interspersed; and though [731] the thermometer in the open air was 86°,[4.27.32] the cold within doors (if this be not a solecism, considering that there were no doors) was excessive. Some attention was paid to its culture; besides many indigenous shrubs, it boasted of some exotics. There was the golden champa,[4.27.33] whose aroma is overpowering, and if laid upon the pillow will produce headache; the pomegranate, at once “rich in flower and fruit”; the apple of Sita, or Sitaphala, which, from similitude of taste, we call the custard-apple; a delicious species of the plantain, whose broad, verdant, glossy leaf alone inspires the mind with the sensation of coolness; the mogra;[4.27.34] the chameli, or jessamine; and the queen of flowers, the barahmasha,[4.27.35] literally the ‘twelve-month,’ because it flowers throughout the year. It is a delightful spot, and I felt a peculiar interest in it. Let the reader imagine the picture of a solitary Englishman scribbling amidst the ruins of Mandor: in front a group of venerable mango-trees; a little further an enormous isolated tamarind, “planted by the hand of a juggler in the time of Nahar Rao, the last of the Pariharas, before whom he exhibited this proof of legerdemain,” and, as the legend goes, from whose branches the juggler met his death:[4.27.36] amidst its boughs the long-armed tribe, the allies of Rama, were skipping and chattering unmolested; while beneath, two Rathor Rajputs were stretched in sleep, their horses dozing beside them, standing as sedately as the statue of ‘Black Caesar’: a grenadier Sepoy of my escort parading by a camp-basket, containing the provender of the morning, completes the calm and quiet scene.

=An Atīt Hermit.=—On the summit of the rock, across the narrow valley, several _guphas_, or caves, the abode of the hermit Atit,[4.27.37] were in sight. How the brains of these ascetics can stand the heat and confined air is a wonder, though, if they possessed any portion of that which is supposed to be necessary to the guidance of the machine, they would scarcely occupy such a position, nor consequently, the world’s attention. _Mais tout est vanité_, a cause which has produced ten times the number of saints that piety has, and ten times of ten these troglodyte philosophers. Having walked out on the terrace or house-top of the palace, to catch a sunbeam and scare away an ague which tormented me, I discovered one of these animals coiled up on a heap of bat’s dung [732], in a corner of an apartment of the palace. He was dreadfully emaciated, and but for the rolling of a pair of eyes in a visage covered with hair, there was nothing which betokened animation, much less humanity. There was none but the bat to dispute his reign, or “the spider which weaves its web in this palace of the Caesars.” I had no inclination to disturb the process of ratiocination, or to ask to which sect of philosophers belonged this Diogenes of Mandor, who might, if he had utterance, have desired me to walk downstairs, and not intercept the sunbeam for whose warmth we were competitors. The day was now nearly departed, and it was time for me to return to my friends in camp. I finished the evening by another visit to the knights of the desert; and inscribing my name on the foot of ‘Black Caesar,’ bade adieu to the ancient Mandor.

RĀMDEO RĀTHOR. PĀBUJI, MOUNTED ON KESAR KĀLI.
Rock Sculptures at Mandor.
_To face page 846._
]

_November 13._—The Raja having invited us to a dinner at the palace, we sallied forth, belted and padded, to partake of Rajput hospitality. He had made a request which will appear somewhat strange—that we would send our cuisine, as the fare of the desert might prove unpalatable; but this I had often seen done at Sindhia’s camp, when joints of mutton, fowls, and fricassees would diversify the provender of the Mahratta. I intimated that we had no apprehension that we should not do justice to the gastronomy of Jodhpur; however, we sent our tables, and some claret to drink long life to the king of Marudes. Having paid our respects to our host, he dismissed us with the complimentary wish that appetite might wait upon us, and, preceded by a host of gold and silver sticks, we were ushered into a hall, where we found the table literally covered with curries, pillaus, and ragouts of every kind, in which was not forgotten the _haria mung Mandor ra_, the ‘green pulse of Mandor,’ the favourite dish, next to _rabri_ or maize-porridge, of the simple Rathor. Here, however, we saw displayed the dishes of both the Hindu and Musulman, and nearly all were served in silver. The curries were excellent, especially those of the vegetable tribes made of the pulses, the kakris or cucumbers, and of a miniature melon not larger than an egg, which grows spontaneously in these regions, and is transported by kasids, or runners, as presents, for many hundreds of miles around. The hall was an entire new building, and scarcely finished; it is erected on the northern projection of the rock, where the escarpment is most abrupt, and looks down upon the site of the batteries of the league of 1806. It is called the Man mahall [733], and, like the hall of audience, its flat roof is supported by numerous massive hewn columns. The view from it to the east is extensive, and we were told that the pinnacle of Kumbhalmer, though eighty miles distant, has been seen, in those clear days of the monsoon when the atmosphere is purified, after heavy showers, from the sand which is held suspended. Great care was taken that our meal should be uninterrupted, and that we should not be the lions to an hour’s amusement of the court. There was but one trivial occurrence to interrupt the decorum and attention of all present, and that was so slight that we only knew it after the entertainment was over. One of the menials of the court, either from ignorance or design, was inclined to evince contumely or bad breeding. It will be considered perhaps a singular circumstance that the Hindu should place before a European the vessels from which he himself eats: but a little fire purifies any metallic vessels from all such contamination; and on this point the high-blooded Rajput is less scrupulous than the bigoted Muhammadan, whom I have seen throw on the ground with contempt a cup from which his officer had drunk water on a march. But of earthenware there can be no purification. Now there was a handsome china bowl, for which some old dowager fancier of such articles would have almost become a supplicant, which having been filled with curds to the Sudra Farangis could no longer be used by the prince, and it was brought by this menial, perhaps with those words, to my native butler. Kali Khan, or, as we familiarly called him, ‘the black lord,’ was of a temper not to be trifled with; and as the domestic held it in his hand, saying, “Take it, it is no longer of any use to us,” he gave it a tap with his hand which sent it over the battlements, and coolly resuming his work, observed, “That is the way in which all useless things should be served”; a hint which, if reported to Raja Man, he seems to have acted on: for not many months after, the minister, Akhai Chand, who dreaded lest European influence should release his master from his faction and thraldom, was treated by him in the same manner as the china bowl by Kali Khan.

=The Rāja visits the Author.=—_November 16._[4.27.38]—This day had been fixed for the Raja’s visits to the envoy. In order to display his grandeur, he sent his own suite of tents, which were erected near mine [734]. They were very extensive, modelled in every way after those of the Emperors of Delhi, and lined throughout with the royal colour, crimson: but this is an innovation, as will appear from the formulas yet preserved of his despatches, “from the foot of the throne, Jodhpur.” The tent, in fact, was a palace in miniature, the whole surrounded by walls of cloth, to keep at a distance the profane vulgar. The _gaddi_, or royal cushion and canopy, was placed in the central apartment. At three, all was noise and bustle in the castle and town; nakkaras were reverberating, trumpets sounding the alarm, that the King of Maru was about to visit the Farangi Wakil. As soon as the flags and pennant were observed winding down ‘the hill of strife’ (Jodhagir), I mounted, and with the gentlemen of my suite proceeded through the town to meet the Raja. Having complimented him _en route_, we returned and received him at the tents. The escort drawn up at the entrance of the tent presented arms, the officers saluting; a mark of attention which gratified him, as did the soldier-like appearance of the men. Hitherto, what he had seen of regulars belonging to the native powers was not calculated to give him a favourable impression of foot-soldiers, who are little esteemed by the equestrian order of Rajputana. His visit continued about an hour, when the shields were brought in, with jewels, brocades, shawls, and other finery, in all nineteen trays, being two less than I presented to the Rana of Udaipur. I likewise presented him with some arms of English manufacture, a telescope, and smaller things much valued by the Rajputs. After the final ceremony of perfumes, and itr-pan (which are admirable hints when you wish to get rid of a tiresome guest, though not so in this instance), the exterior wall was removed, and showed the caparisoned elephant and horses, which were part of the khilat. At the door of the tent we made our salaam, when the Raja gave me his hand, which, by the by, was his first salutation on receiving me. It is an ancient Rajput custom, and their bards continually allude to extending the right hand—“dextra extenta.”

GŪGA THE CHAUHĀN. HARBUJI SĀNKHLA.
Rock Sculptures at Mandor.
_To face page 848._
]

=Taking Leave of the Rāja.=—_November 17._[4.27.39]—I went to take leave of the Raja: I had a long and interesting conversation on this our last interview. I left him in the full expectation that his energy of character would surmount the difficulties by which he was surrounded, though not without a struggle, and condign punishment to some of the miscreants, the misleaders of his son, the assassins of his minister and high priest, and consequently the authors of his humiliating and protracted incarceration [735]. Whether the first gratification of vengeance provoked his appetite, or whether the torrent of his rage, once impelled into motion, became too impetuous to be checked, so that his reason was actually disturbed by the sufferings he had undergone, it is certain he grew a demoniac; nor could any one, who had conversed with the bland, the gentlemanly, I might say gentle, Raja Man, have imagined that he concealed under this exterior a heart so malignant as his subsequent acts evinced. But the day of retribution must arrive; the men who wrote that dignified remonstrance, which is given in another place,[4.27.40] will not tamely bear their wrongs, and as they dare not levy war against their prince, who reposes under British protection, the dagger will doubtless find a way to reach him even in “the thousand-columned hall” of Jodhpur.

Besides the usual gifts at parting, which are matter of etiquette, and remain untouched by the individual, I accepted as a personal token of his favour, a sword, dagger, and buckler, which had belonged to one of his illustrious ancestors. The weight of the sword, which had often been “the angel of death,” would convince any one that it must have been a nervous arm which carried it through a day. With mutual good wishes, and a request for a literary correspondence, which was commenced but soon closed, I bade adieu to Raja Man and the capital of Marwar [736].

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Footnote 4.27.1:

[Of Jagat Singh of Jaipur and Amīr Khān.]

Footnote 4.27.2:

[_Rahkala_ is properly the carriage on which a field-piece is mounted:
then, a swivel-gun (Irvine, _Army of the Indian Moghuls_, 140).]

Footnote 4.27.3:

[The population of the city in 1911 was 79,756.]

Footnote 4.27.4:

_Amrit ra piyala._

Footnote 4.27.5:

See p. 820.

Footnote 4.27.6:

[‘The self-existent.’]

Footnote 4.27.7:

[The Rāthor dynasty of Kanauj is a myth (Smith, _EHI_, 385, note 1).]

Footnote 4.27.8:

[_Decline and Fall_, ed. W. Smith, ii. 262.]

Footnote 4.27.9:

The date of his accession is the 5th of the month Margsir, S. 1860
[A.D. 1803].

Footnote 4.27.10:

[About 80 miles N. of Jaipur city.]

Footnote 4.27.11:

Vol. I. page 535.

Footnote 4.27.12:

Commandant of the fortress [_qil’adār_].

Footnote 4.27.13:

[In 1839, in consequence of the misgovernment of Mān Singh, a force
was sent by the British Government and Jodhpur was occupied. He
entered into a treaty securing a cessation of his tyrannical acts. He
died on September 5, 1843.]

Footnote 4.27.14:

[An abstract of the _Khulāsatu-t-tawārīkh_ of Subhān Rāe is given in
Elliot-Dowson viii. 5 ff.]

Footnote 4.27.15:

[Professor E. B. Poulton kindly sends a note from Colonel J. W.
Yerbury, who writes: “Although no record exists of the occurrence of
Hypoderma in Hindustan, I think there is no doubt that the maggots are
the larvae of either _H. diaua_ or _H. acteon_. They have been found
in antelopes—_Antelope saiga_—and _dorcas_ brought to Italy from the
East.”]

Footnote 4.27.16:

[Sher Shāh, after his victory over Rāja Māldeo in A.D. 1544, said that
“for a handful of millet (_juār_) he had almost lost the empire of
India” (Ferishta ii. 123; Manucci i. 117). The author quotes this
saying twice later on.]

Footnote 4.27.17:

[Funeral rite.]

Footnote 4.27.18:

[There is no evidence that the name Pālitāna is connected with a Pāli
tribe.]

Footnote 4.27.19:

[_Ficus glomerata._]

Footnote 4.27.20:

[Near the cave an inscription of Kakka Parihār, probably tenth century
A.D., has recently been found (Erskine iii. A. 196).]

Footnote 4.27.21:

_L’Italie avant la domination des Romains._

Footnote 4.27.22:

Amongst ancient coins and medals, excavated from the ruins of Ujjain
and other ancient cities, I possess a perfect series with all the
symbolic emblems of the twenty-four Jain apostles. The compound
equilateral triangle is amongst them: perhaps there were masons in
those days amongst the Pali. It is hardly necessary to state that this
Trinitarian symbol (the double triangle) occurs on our (so-called)
Gothic edifices, _e.g._ the beautiful abbey gate of Bury St. Edmunds,
Suffolk, erected about A.D. 1377. [See Count Goblet D’Alviella, _The
Migration of Symbols_, 185 ff.]

Footnote 4.27.23:

[Erskine (iii. A. 197) calls him Tanna Pīr; the shrine was built in
the time of Mahārāja Mān Singh, and is held in high estimation.]

Footnote 4.27.24:

See p. 793.

Footnote 4.27.25:

_Tapu Ravana_, ‘the isle of Ravana,’ wherever that may be. [Taprobane
represents the river Tāmraparni, ‘the copper-coloured leaf’ (_IGI_,
xxiii. 215).]

Footnote 4.27.26:

[Eldest son of Rāo Salkha, one of the early traditional ancestors of
the Jodhpur chiefs, after whom the Mallāni district is named.]

Footnote 4.27.27:

[A Rāthor chief, who first brought the camel into use, and was noted
for protecting cows.]

Footnote 4.27.28:

[A Tonwar or Tuar Rājput, of the family of Anangpāl of Delhi, now
worshipped under the name of Rāmsāh Pīr.]

Footnote 4.27.29:

[A Panwār Rājput, of Bengti, near Phalodi, where his cart is still
worshipped.]

Footnote 4.27.30:

[Gūgaji or Guggaji, already mentioned (p. 807 above), said to have
been killed in battle with Fīroz Shāh of Delhi, at the end of the
thirteenth century A.D.]

Footnote 4.27.31:

I imagine the word _kula_, or ‘race,’ of which, as often remarked,
there are not thirty-three but thirty-six, has given rise to the
assertion respecting the thirty-three crore or millions of gods of
Hindustan [more probably only an indefinite number].

Footnote 4.27.32:

Thermometer 55°, 72°, 86°, 80° at daybreak, ten, two, and at sunset;
on the 3rd November, the day of our arrival, the variations were 50°,
72°, 80°, and 75° at those hours.

Footnote 4.27.33:

[_Michelia champaka._]

Footnote 4.27.34:

[The double jasmine, _Jasminum zambak_.]

Footnote 4.27.35:

[Sir D. Prain, who has kindly investigated this flower, identifies it
with a species of _Bauhinia_. He remarks that “_B. acuminata_, which
differs from _B. purpurea_ and _B. variegata_, both in being a smaller
plant and in beginning to flower when _B. variegata_ does, goes on
flowering all through the rains, and still continues to flower when
_B. purpurea_ is in blossom. It does not flower all the year round in
Bengal, and I doubt if it does so in Rājputāna, though Balfour in his
_Cyclopaedia_ suggests that it does so. My idea is that the term
_bārah-māsha_ in Upper India should not be taken too literally, and
that it is only a figurative way of saying that the particular
_Bauhinia_ is in flower alongside of both the others when flowering
seasons are separated by half the year.”]

Footnote 4.27.36:

See the Autobiography of Jahangir, translated by that able Oriental
scholar, Major Price [p. 96 f.], for the astonishing feats these
jugglers perform in creating not only the tree but the fruit.

Footnote 4.27.37:

[The Atīt is a mendicant follower of Siva, and the term is usually
equivalent to Sannyāsi.]

Footnote 4.27.38:

Thermometer 59°, 82°, 85°, 79°.

Footnote 4.27.39:

Thermometer 59°, 73°, 89°, 82°; at six, ten, two, and sunset.

Footnote 4.27.40:

See Vol. I. p. 228.

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