Chapter 6

Maharao Guman Singh—Zalim Singh—His birth, ancestry, and
progress to power—Office of Faujdar becomes hereditary in
his family—His office and estate resumed by Guman Singh—He
abandons Kotah—Proceeds to Mewar—Performs services to the
Rana, and receives the title of Raj Rana, and
estates—Serves against the Mahrattas—Is wounded and made
prisoner—Returns to Kotah—Mahratta invasion—Storm of
Bakhani—Its glorious defence—Sacrifice of a clan—Garrison
of Sohet destroyed—Zalim Singh employed—His successful
negotiation—Restoration to power—Rao Guman constitutes
Zalim guardian of his son Ummed Singh, who is
proclaimed—The Tika-daur, or ‘raid of accession’—Capture
of Kelwara—Difficulties of the Protector’s situation—Cabal
against his power—Destruction of the conspirators—Exile of
the nobles—Sequestration of estates—Conspiracy of
Aton—Predatory bands—Aton surrenders—Exile of the Hara
nobles—Curtailment of the feudal interests—Conspiracy of
Mohsen—Plan for the destruction of the Regent and
family—Mohsen chief takes sanctuary in the temple—Is
dragged forth and slain—Maharao’s brothers implicated in
the plot—Their incarceration and death—Numerous projects
against the life of the regent—Female conspiracy—How
defeated—The Regent’s precautions 1534

CHAPTER 7

Zalim regarded as a legislator—His political views on
Mewar—Kotah sacrificed thereto—His tyranny—His
superstition—Makes a tour of his dominions—Establishes a
permanent camp—Trains an army—Adopts European arms and
discipline—Revises the revenue system of Haraoti—The Patel
system described—Council of four—Extent of
jurisdiction—The Bohras described—Their utility in the old
farming system of India—Patels usurp their
influence—Depression of the peasantry—Patels circumvented,
imprisoned, and fined—Patel system destroyed—Return to the
old system—Moral estimation of the peasant of
Rajputana—Modes of realizing the land revenue
described—Advantages and disadvantages 1547

CHAPTER 8

Farming system of Zalim Singh—Extent to which it has been
carried—Its prosperity, fallacious and transitory—Details
of the system—Soil of Kotah—The Regent introduces foreign
ploughs—Area cultivated—Net
produce—Value—Grain-pits—Prices, in plenty and
famine—Zalim sells in one year grain to the amount of a
million sterling—Monopoly—The tithe, or new tax on
exported grain—The Jagatya, or tax-gatherer—Impolicy of
this tax—Gross revenue of Kotah—Opium monopoly—Tax on
widows—On the mendicant—Gourd-tax—Broom-tax—The Regent
detested by the bards—Province of Kotah at this period,
and at assumption of the government, contrasted—Question
as to the moral result of his improvements 1559

CHAPTER 9

Political system of the Regent—His foreign policy—His
pre-eminent influence in Rajwara—His first connexion with
the English Government—Monson’s retreat—Gallant conduct
and death of the Hara chief of Koila—Aid given by the
Regent involves him with Holkar—Holkar comes to
Kotah—Preparations to attack the capital—Singular
interview with Zalim—Zalim’s agents at foreign
courts—Alliance with Amir Khan, and the Pindari
chiefs—Characteristic anecdotes—Zalim’s offensive
policy—His domestic policy—Character of Maharao Ummed
Singh—Zalim’s conduct towards him—Choice of
ministers—Bishan Singh Faujdar—Dalil Khan
Pathan—Circumvallation of Kotah—Foundation of the city
Jhalrapatan—Mihrab Khan, commander of the forces 1569