Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, vol. 1 of 3, by James Tod

Rāna Sangrām Singh II., A.D. 1710-34.

—Sangram Singh (the lion of battle) succeeded; a name renowned in the annals of Mewar, being that of the opponent of the founder of the Moguls. He ascended the throne about the same time with Muhammad Shah,^[1] the last of the race of Timur who deserved the name of emperor of India. During the reign of Sangram, from A.D. 1716 to 1734, this mighty empire was dismembered; when, in lieu of one paramount authority, numerous independent governments started up, which preserved their uncertain existence until the last revolution, which has given a new combination to these discordant materials—Muhammadan, Mahratta, and Rajput, in the course of one century under the dominion of a handful of Britons! Like the Satraps of the ancient Persian, or the Lieutenants of Alexander, each chief proclaimed himself master of the province, the government of which was confided to his loyalty and talents; and it cannot fail to diminish any regret at the successive prostration of Bengal, Oudh, Haidarabad, and other less conspicuous States, to remember that they were founded in rebellion, and erected on ingratitude; and that their rulers were destitute of those sympathies, which could alone give stability to their ephemeral greatness, by improving the condition of their subjects. With the Mahrattas the case is different: their emergence to power claims our admiration, when tyranny transformed the industrious husbandman, and the minister of religion, into a hardy and enterprising soldier, and a skilful functionary of government. Had their ambition been restrained within legitimate bounds, it would have been no less gratifying than politically and morally just that the family of Sivaji should have retained its [406] authority in countries which his active valour wrested from Aurangzeb. But the genius of conquest changed their natural habits; they devastated instead of consolidating; and in lieu of that severe and frugal simplicity, and that energy of enterprise, which were their peculiar characteristics, they became distinguished for mean parsimony, low cunning, and dastardly depredation. Had they, retaining their original character, been content with their proper sphere of action, the Deccan, they might yet have held the sovereignty of that vast region, where their habits and language assimilated them with the people. But as they spread over the north they encountered national antipathies, and though professing the same creed, a wider difference in sentiment divided the Mahratta from the Rajput, than from the despots of Delhi, whose tyrannical intolerance was more endurable, because less degrading, than the rapacious meanness of the Southron. Rajasthan benefited by the demolition of the empire: to all but Mewar it yielded an extension of power. Had the national mind been allowed to repose, and its energies to recruit, after so many centuries of demoralization, all would have recovered their strength, which lay in the opinions and industry of the people, a devoted tenantry and brave vassalage, whom we have so often depicted as abandoning their habitations and pursuits to aid the patriotic views of their princes.

Deposition of Farrukhsīyar: Nizāmu-l-mulk.

—The short reign of Farrukhsiyar was drawing to a close; its end was accelerated by the very means by which that monarch hoped to emancipate himself from the thraldom of the Sayyids, against whose authority the faction of Inayatu-lla was but a feeble counterpoise, and whose arbitrary habits, in the re-establishment of the jizya, lost him even the support of the father of his queen. It was on this occasion that the celebrated Nizamu-l-mulk,^[2] the founder of the Haidarabad State, was brought upon the stage: he then held the unimportant charge of the district of Moradabad; but possessed of high talents, he was bought over, by the promise of the government of Malwa, to further the views of the Sayyids. Supported by a body of ten thousand Mahrattas, these makers of kings soon manifested their displeasure by the deposal of Farrukhsiyar, who was left without any support but that of the princes of Amber and Bundi. Yet they would never have abandoned him had he hearkened to their counsel to take the field, and trust his cause to them: but, cowardly and infatuated, he refused to quit the walls of his palace, and threw [407] himself upon the mercy of his enemies, who made him dismiss the faithful Rajputs and “admit a guard of honour of their troops into the citadel.”^[3]

Murder of Farrukhsīyar, May 16, 1719.

—Farrukhsiyar hoped for security in the inviolability of the harem—but he found no sanctuary even there: to use the words of the Mogul memoir, "night advanced, and day, like the fallen star of the emperor, sunk in darkness. The gates of the citadel were closed upon his friends: the Wazir and Ajit Singh remained within. This night was dreadful to the inhabitants of the city; no one knew what was passing in the palace, and the troops under the Amiru-l-umara, with ten thousand Mahrattas, remained under arms: morning came, and all hope was extinguished by the royal band (Naubat) announcing the deposal of Farrukhsiyar, in the proclamation of Rafiu-d-darajat, his successor." The interval between the deposal and the death of an Asiatic prince is short, and even while the heralds vociferated “long live the king!” to the new puppet, the bowstring was on the neck of the contemptible Farrukhsiyar.

Accession of Rafiu-d-darajāt.

—The first act of the new reign (A.D. 1719) was one of conciliation towards Ajit Singh and the Rajputs, namely, the abrogation of the jizya; and the Sayyids further showed their disposition to attach them by conferring the important office of Diwan on one of their own faith: Raja Ratan Chand was accordingly inducted into the ministry in lieu of Inayatu-lla.

Accession of Roshan-Akhtar Muhammad Shah, A.D. 1719-48.

—Three phantoms of royalty flitted across the scene in a few months, till Roshan-Akhtar, the eldest son of Bahadur Shah, was [408] enthroned with the title of Muhammad Shah (A.D. 1720), during whose reign of nearly thirty years the empire was completely dismembered,^[4] and Mahrattas from the south disputed its spoils with the Afghan mountaineers. The haughty demeanour of the Sayyids disgusted all who acted with them, especially their coadjutor the Nizam,^[5] of whose talents, displayed in restoring Malwa to prosperity, they entertained a dread. It was impossible to cherish any abstract loyalty for the puppets they established, and treason lost its name, when the Nizam declared for independence, which the possession of the fortresses of Asir and Burhanpur enabled him to secure. The brothers had just cause for alarm. The Rajputs were called upon for their contingents,^[6] and the princes of Kotah and Narwar gallantly interposed their own retainers to cut off the Nizam from the Nerbudda, on which occasion the Kotah prince was slain. The independence of the Nizam led to that of Oudh. Saadat Khan was then but the commandant of Bayana, but he entered into the conspiracy to expel the Sayyids, and was one of those who drew lots to assassinate the Amiru-l-umara. The deed was put into execution on the march to reduce the Nizam, when Haidar Khan buried his poniard in the Amir’s heart.^[7] The emperor then in camp, being thus freed, returned against the Wazir, who instantly set up Ibrahim and marched against his opponents. The Rajputs wisely remained neutral, and both armies met. The decapitation of Ratan Chand was the signal for the battle, which was obstinate and bloody; the Wazir was made prisoner, and subjected to the bowstring. For the part Saadat Khan acted in the conspiracy he was honoured with the title of Bahadur Jang, and the government of Oudh. The Rajput princes paid their respects to the [409] conqueror, who confirmed the repeal of the jizya, and as the reward of their neutrality the Rajas of Amber and Jodhpur, Jai Singh and Ajit, were gratified, the former with the government of the province of Agra, the last with that of Gujarat and Ajmer, of which latter fortress he took possession. Girdhardas ^[8] was made governor of Malwa to oppose the Mahrattas, and the Nizam was invited from his government of Haidarabad to accept the office of wazir of the empire.

The Policy of Mewār.

—The policy of Mewar was too isolated for the times; her rulers clung to forms and unsubstantial homage, while their neighbours, with more active virtue, plunged into the tortuous policy of the imperial court, and seized every opportunity to enlarge the boundaries of their States: and while Amber appropriated to herself the royal domains almost to the Jumna; while Marwar planted her banner on the battlements of Ajmer, dismembered Gujarat, and pushed her clans far into the desert, and even to ‘the world’s end’;^[9] Mewar confined her ambition to the control of her ancient feudatories of Abu, Idar, and the petty States which grew out of her, Dungarpur and Banswara. The motive for this policy was precisely the same which had cost such sacrifices in former times; she dreaded amalgamating with the imperial court, and preferred political inferiority to the sacrifice of principle. The internal feuds of her two great clans also operated against her aggrandizement; and while the brave Saktawat, Jeth Singh, expelled the Rathor from Idar, and subdued the wild mountaineers even to Koliwara, the conquest was left incomplete by the jealousy of his rival, and he was recalled in the midst of his success. From these and other causes an important change took place in the internal policy of Mewar, which tended greatly to impair her energies. To this period none of the vassals had the power to erect places of strength within their domains, which, as already stated, were not fixed, but subject to triennial change; their lands were given for subsistence, their native hills were their fortresses, and the frontier strongholds defended their families in time of invasion. As the Mogul power waned, the general defensive system was [410] abandoned, while the predatory warfare which succeeded compelled them to stud their country with castles, in order to shelter their effects from the Mahratta and Pathan, and in later times to protect rebels.

Rana Sangram ruled eighteen [twenty-four] years; under him Mewar was respected, and the greater portion of her lost territory was regained. His selection of Biharidas Pancholi evinced his penetration, for never had Mewar a more able or faithful minister, and numerous autograph letters of all the princes of his time attest his talent and his worth as the oracle of the period. He retained his office during three reigns: but his skill was unable to stem the tide of Mahratta invasion, which commenced on the death of Sangram.

Anecdotes of Rāna Sangrām Singh II.

—Tradition has preserved many anecdotes of Sangram, which aid our estimate of Rajput character, whether in the capacity of legislators or the more retired sphere of domestic manners. They uniformly represent this Rana as a patriarchal ruler, wise, just, and inflexible,^[10] steady in his application to business, regulating public and private expenditure, and even the sumptuary laws, which were rigidly adhered to, and on which the people still expatiate, giving homely illustrations of the contrast between them and the existing profusion. The Chauhan of Kotharia, one of the highest class of chieftains, had recommended an addition to the folds of the court robe, and as courtesy forbids all personal denial, his wish was assented to, and he retired to his estate pluming himself on his sovereign’s acquiescence. But the Rana, sending for the minister, commanded the sequestration of two villages of Kotharia, which speedily reaching the ears of the chief, he repaired to court, and begged to know the fault which had drawn upon him this mark of displeasure. “None, Raoji; but on a minute calculation I find the revenue of these two villages will just cover the expense of the superfluity of garment which obedience to your wishes will occasion me, and as every iota of my own income is appropriated, I had no other mode of innovating on our ancient costume than by making you bear the charge attending a compliance with your suggestion.” It will readily be believed, that the Chauhan prayed the [411] revocation of this edict, and that he was careful for the future of violating the sumptuary laws of his sovereign.

On another occasion, from lapse of memory or want of consideration, he broke the laws he had established, and alienated a village attached to the household. Each branch had its appropriate fund, whether for the kitchen, the wardrobe, the privy purse, the queens; these lands were called thua, and each had its officer, or thuadar, all of whom were made accountable for their trust to the prime minister; it was one of these he had alienated. Seated with his chiefs in the rasora, or banqueting-hall, there was no sugar forthcoming for the curds, which has a place in the dinner carte of all Rajputs, and he chid the superintendent for the omission. “Anndata” (giver of food), replied the officer, "the minister says you have given away the village set apart for sugar."—“Just,” replied the Rana, and finished his repast without further remark, and without sugar to his curds.

Another anecdote will show his inflexibility of character, and his resistance to that species of interference in state affairs which is the bane of Asiatic governments. Sangram had recently emancipated himself from the trammels of a tedious minority, during which his mother, according to custom, acted a conspicuous part in the guardianship of her son and the State. The chieftain of Dariawad had his estate confiscated: but as the Rana never punished from passion or pardoned from weakness, none dared to plead his cause, and he remained proscribed from court during two years, when he ventured a petition to the queen-mother through the Bhandarins,^[11] for the reversion of the decree, accompanied with a note for two lakhs of rupees,^[12] and a liberal donation to the fair mediators. It was the daily habit of the Rana to pay his respects to his mother before dinner, and on one of these visits she introduced the Ranawat’s request, and begged the restoration of the estate. It was customary, on the issue of every grant, that eight days should elapse from the mandate to the promulgation of the edict, to which eight official seals ^[13] were attached; but on the present occasion the Rana commanded the execution of the deed at once, and to have it ere he left the Rawala. On its being brought, he [412] placed it respectfully in his mother’s hands, begging her to return the note to the Ranawat; having made this sacrifice to duty, he bowed and retired. The next day he commanded dinner an hour earlier, without the usual visit to the Rawala: all were surprised, but none so much as the queen-mother—the day passed—another came—still no visit, and to a confidential message, she received a ceremonious reply. Alarmed for the loss of her son’s affections, she pondered on the cause, but could find none, except the grant—she entreated the minister’s interference; he respectfully intimated that he was interdicted from the discussion of State affairs but with his sovereign—she had recourse to other expedients, which proving alike fruitless, she became sullen, punished her damsels without cause, and refused food: Sangram still remained obdurate. She talked of a pilgrimage to the Ganges, and befitting equipage and escort were commanded to attend her—the moment of departure was at hand, and yet he would not see her. She repaired by Amber on her route to Mathura, to worship the Apollo of Vraj,^[14] when the great Raja Jai Singh (married to the Rana’s sister)^[15] advanced, and conducted her to his new city of Jaipur, and to evince his respect “put his shoulder to the travelling litter or palki,” and promised to return with her and be a suppliant to his brother-in-law for the restoration of his regard. She made a tour of the sacred places, and on return accepted the escort of the Prince of Amber. The laws of hospitality amongst the Rajputs are rigid: the Rana could not refuse to his guest the request for which he had left his capital: but averse to owing reconciliation to external intercession, and having done enough for the suppression of intrigue, he advanced to meet the cortège when within one march of Udaipur, as if to receive the Amber prince; but proceeding direct to his [413] mother’s tents, he asked her blessing, and having escorted her to the palace, returned to greet and conduct his brother prince; all the allusion he made to the subject was in the simple but pithy expression, “family quarrels should be kept in the family.”

Another anecdote shows him as the vigilant shepherd watching over the safety of his flock. As he sat down to dinner, tidings arrived of an invasion of the Malwa Pathans, who had rifled several villages at Mandasor, carrying the inhabitants into captivity. Pushing the platter from him, he ordered his armour, and the nakkara to beat the assemblage of his chieftains. With all speed a gallant band formed on the terrace below, but they prevailed on the Rana to leave the punishment of the desultory aggression to them, as unworthy of his personal interference. They departed: several hours after, the chief of Kanor arrived, having left a sick-bed, and with a tertian come in obedience to his sovereign’s summons. Vain was his prince’s dissuasion to keep him back, and he joined the band as they came up with the invaders. The foe was defeated and put to flight, but the sick chieftain fell in the charge, and his son was severely wounded by his side. On the young chief repairing to court he was honoured with a bira^[16] from the Rana’s own hand, a distinction which he held to be an ample reward for his wounds, and testimonial of the worth of his father. The existence of such sentiments are the strongest tests of character.

On another occasion, some parasite had insinuated suspicions against the chief of the nobles, the Rawat of Salumbar, who had just returned victorious in action with the royal forces at Malwa, and had asked permission to visit his family on his way to court. The Rana spurned the suspicion, and to show his reliance on the chief, he dispatched a messenger for Salumbar to wait his arrival and summon him to the presence. He had reached his domain, given leave to his vassals as they passed their respective abodes, dismounted, and reached the door of the Rawala, when the herald called aloud, “The Rana salutes you, Rawatji, and commands this letter.” With his hand on the door where his wife and children awaited him, he demanded his horse, and simply leaving his ‘duty for his mother,’ he [414] mounted, with half a dozen attendants, nor loosed the rein until he reached the capital. It was midnight; his house empty; no servants; no dinner; but his sovereign had foreseen and provided, and when his arrival was announced, provender for his cattle, and vessels of provision prepared in the royal kitchen, were immediately sent to his abode. Next morning Salumbar attended the court. The Rana was unusually gracious, and not only presented him with the usual tokens of regard, a horse and jewels, but moreover a grant of land. With surprise he asked what service he had performed to merit such distinction, and from a sentiment becoming the descendant of Chonda solemnly refused to accept it; observing, that even if he had lost his head, the reward was excessive; but if his prince would admit of his preferring a request, it would be, that in remembrance of his sovereign’s favour, when he, or his, in after times, should on the summons come from their estate to the capital, the same number of dishes from the royal kitchen should be sent to his abode: it was granted, and to this day his descendants enjoy the distinction. These anecdotes paint the character of Sangram far more forcibly than any laboured effort. His reign was as honourable to himself as it was beneficial to his country, in whose defence he had fought eighteen actions; but though his policy was too circumscribed, and his country would have benefited more by a surrender of some of those antique prejudices which kept her back in the general scramble for portions of the dilapidated monarchy of the Moguls, yet he was respected abroad, as he was beloved by his subjects, of whose welfare he was ever watchful, and to whose wants ever indulgent. Rana Sangram was the last prince who upheld the dignity of the gaddi of Bappa Rawal; with his death commenced Mahratta ascendancy, and with this we shall open the reign of his son and successor.

Rāna Jagat Singh II., A.D. 1734-51. Difficulties of Rājput Combination.

—Jagat Singh II., the eldest of the four sons of Sangram, succeeded S. 1790 (A.D. 1734). The commencement of his reign was signalized by a revival of the triple alliance formed by Rana Amra, and broken by Raja Ajit’s connexion with the Sayyids and the renewal of matrimonial ties with the empire, the abjuration whereof was the basis of the treaty. The present engagement, which included all the minor states, was formed at Hurra, a town in Mewar on the Ajmer frontier, where the confederate princes met at the head of their vassals. To insure unanimity, the Rana was invested with paramount control, and headed the forces which were [415] to take the field after the rains, already set in.^[17] Unity of interests was the chief character of the engagement, had they adhered to which, not only the independence, but the aggrandisement, of Rajasthan, was in their power, and they might have alike defied the expiring efforts of Mogul tyranny, and the Parthian-like warfare of the Mahratta. They were indeed the most formidable power in India at this juncture; but difficult as it had ever proved to coalesce the Rajputs for mutual preservation, even when a paramount superiority of power, both temporal and spiritual, belonged to the Ranas, so now, since Amber and Marwar had attained an equality with Mewar, it was found still less practicable to prevent the operation of the principles of disunion. In fact, a moment’s reflection must discover that the component parts of a great feudal federation, such as that described, must contain too many discordant particles—too many rivalries and national antipathies—ever cordially to amalgamate. Had it been otherwise, the opportunities were many and splendid for the recovery of Rajput freedom; but though individually enamoured of liberty, the universality of the sentiment prevented its realization: they never would submit to the control required to work it out, and this, the best opportunity which had ever occurred, was lost. A glance at the disordered fragments of the throne of Akbar will show the comparative strength of the Rajputs.

League of Nizamu-l-mulk with Rājputs and Marāthas.

—Nizamu-l-mulk had completely emancipated himself from his allegiance, and signalized his independence, by sending the head of the imperial general, who [416] ventured to oppose it, as that of a traitor, to the emperor. He leagued with the Rajputs, and instigated Bajirao to plant the Mahratta standard in Malwa and Gujarat. In defending the former, Dayya Bahadur fell;^[18] and Jai Singh of Amber, being nominated to the trust, delegated it to the invader, and Malwa was lost. The extensive province of Gujarat soon shared the same fate; for in the vacillating policy of the court, the promise of that government to the Rathors had been broken, and Abhai Singh, son of Ajit, who had expelled Sarbuland Khan ^[19] after a severe contest, following the example of his brother prince of Amber, connived with the invaders, while he added its most northern districts to Marwar. In Bengal, Behar, and Orissa, Shujau-d-daula, and his deputy Allahwirdi Khan,^[20] were supreme, and Safdar Jang ^[21] (son of Saadat Khan) was established in Oudh. The basest disloyalty marked the rise of this family, which owed everything to Muhammad Shah. It was Saadat Khan who invited Nadir Shah, whose invasion gave the final stab to the empire; and it was his son, Safdar Jang, who, when commandant of the artillery (mir-i-atish), turned it against his sovereign’s palace, and then conveyed it to Oudh. Of the Diwans of Bengal we must speak only with reverence; but, whether they had any special dispensation, their loyalty to the descendant of Farrukhsiyar has been very little more distinguished than that of the satraps enumerated, though the original tenure of Bengal is still apparent, and the feudal obligation to the suzerain of Delhi manifested, in the homage of petite serjanterie, in transmitting with the annual fine of relief (one hundred mohars) the spices of the eastern archipelago. Yet of all those who gloried in the title of fidwi padshah-i-ghazi, the only ‘slave of the victorious king,’ who has been generous to him in the day of his distress, is the Diwan of Bengal, better known as the English East India Company. In the hour of triumph they rescued the blind and aged descendants of the illustrious Babur from a state of degradation and penury, and secured to him all the dignity and comfort which his circumstances could lead him to hope; and the present state of his family, contrasted with the thraldom and misery endured while fortune favoured the Mahratta, is splendid. Yet perhaps the most acute stroke of fortune to this fallen monarch was when the British governor of India lent his aid to the descendant of the rebellious Safdar Jang to mount the throne of Oudh, and to assume, in lieu of the title of wazir of the empire, that of king. We can [417] appreciate and commiserate the feeling; for the days of power were yet too recent ^[22] for Akbar Sani (the second) to receive such intelligence without a shock, or without comparing his condition with him whose name he bore. It is well to pause upon this page of eastern history, which is full of instruction; since by weighing the abuses of power, and its inevitable loss through placing a large executive trust in the hands of those who exercised it without sympathy towards the governed, we may at least retard the day of our decline.

Marātha Raids. The Campaign of Nādir Shāh.

—The Mahratta establishments in Malwa and Gujarat constituted a nucleus for others to form upon, and like locusts, they crossed the Nerbudda in swarms; when the Holkars, the Sindhias, the Puars, and other less familiar names, emerged from obscurity; when the plough ^[23] was deserted for the sword, and the goat-herd ^[24] made a lance of his crook. They devastated, and at length settled upon, the lands of the indigenous Rajputs. For a time the necessity of unity made them act under one standard, and hence the vast masses under the first Bajirao, which bore down all opposition, and afterwards dispersed themselves over those long-oppressed regions. It was in A.D. 1735 that he first crossed the Chambal ^[25] and appeared before Delhi, which he blockaded, when his retreat was purchased by the surrender of the chauth, or fourth of the gross revenues of the empire. The Nizam, dreading the influence such pusillanimous concession might exert upon his rising power, determined to drive the Mahrattas from Malwa, where, if once fixed, they would cut off his communications with the north. He accordingly invaded Malwa, defeated Bajirao in a pitched battle, and was only prevented from following it up by Nadir Shah’s advance, facilitated by the Afghans, who, on becoming independent in Kabul, laid open the frontiers of Hindustan.^[26] In this emergency, “great hopes were placed on the valour of the Rajputs”; but the spirit of devotion in this brave race, by whose aid the Mogul power was made and maintained, was irretrievably alienated, and not one of those high families, who had throughout been so lavish of their blood in its defence, would obey the summons to the royal standard, when the fate of India was decided on the plains of Karnal.^[27] A sense [418] of individual danger brought together the great home feudatories, when the Nizam and Saadat Khan (now Wazir) united their forces under the imperial commander; but their demoralized levies were no match for the Persian and the northern mountaineer. The Amiru-l-umara was slain, the Wazir made prisoner, and Muhammad Shah and his kingdom were at Nadir’s disposal. The disloyalty of the Wazir filled the capital with blood, and subjected his sovereign to the condition of a captive. Jealous of the Nizam, whose diplomatic success had obtained him the office of Amiru-l-umara, he stimulated the avarice of the conqueror by exaggerating the riches of Delhi, and declared that he alone could furnish the ransom negotiated by the Nizam. Nadir’s love of gold overpowered his principle; the treaty was broken, the keys of Delhi were demanded, and its humiliated emperor was led in triumph through the camp of the conqueror, who, on March 8, A.D. 1739, took possession of the palace of Timur, and coined money bearing this legend:

Plunder and Massacre at Delhi.

—The accumulated wealth of India contained in the royal treasury, notwithstanding the lavish expenditure during the civil wars, and the profuse rewards scattered by each competitor for dominion, was yet sufficient to gratify even avarice itself, amounting in gold, jewels, and plate to forty millions sterling, exclusive of equipages of every denomination. But this enormous spoil only kindled instead of satiating the appetite of Nadir, and a fine of two millions and a half was exacted, and levied with such unrelenting rigour and cruelty on the inhabitants, that men of rank and character could find no means of escape but by suicide. A rumour of this monster’s death excited an insurrection, in which several Persians were killed. The provocation was not lost: the conqueror ascended a mosque,^[28] and commanded a general massacre, in which thousands were slain. Pillage accompanied murder; whilst the streets streamed with blood, the city was fired, and the dead were consumed in the conflagration of their late habitations. If a single ray of satisfaction could be felt amidst such a scene of horror, it must have been when Nadir commanded the minister of the wretch who was the author of [419] this atrocity, the infamous Saadat Khan, to send, on pain of death, an inventory of his own and his master’s wealth; demanding meanwhile the two millions and a half, the original composition settled by the Nizam, from the Wazir alone. Whether his ‘coward conscience’ was alarmed at the mischief he had occasioned, or mortification at discovering that his ambition had ‘o’erleaped itself,’ and recoiled with vengeance on his own head, tempted the act, it is impossible to discover, but the guilty Saadat became his own executioner. He swallowed poison;^[29] an example followed by his diwan, Raja Majlis Rae, in order to escape the rage of the offended Nadir. By the new treaty, all the western provinces, Kabul, Tatta, Sind, and Multan, were surrendered and united to Persia, and on the vernal equinox, Nadir, gorged with spoil, commenced his march from the desolated Delhi.^[30] The philosophic comment of the native historian on these events is so just, that we shall transcribe it verbatim. “The people of Hindustan at this period thought only of personal safety and gratification; misery was disregarded by those who escaped it, and man, centred wholly in self, felt not for his kind. This selfishness, destructive of public and private virtue, was universal in Hindustan at the invasion of Nadir Shah; nor have the people become more virtuous since, and consequently neither more happy nor more independent.”

Results to the Rājputs.

—At this eventful era in the political history of India, the Rajput nation had not only maintained their ground amidst the convulsions of six centuries under the paramount sway of the Islamite, but two of the three chief States, Marwar and [420] Amber, had by policy and valour created substantial States out of petty principalities, junior branches ^[31] from which had established their independence, and still enjoy it under treaty with the British Government. Mewar at this juncture was defined by nearly the same boundaries as when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded her in the tenth century, though her influence over many of her tributaries, as Bundi, Abu, Idar, and Deolia, was destroyed. To the west, the fertile district of Godwar carried her beyond her natural barrier, the Aravalli, into the desert; while the Chambal was her limit to the east. The Khari separated her from Ajmer, and to the south she adjoined Malwa. These limits comprehended one hundred and thirty miles of latitude and one hundred and forty of longitude, containing 10,000 towns and villages, with upwards of a million sterling of revenue, raised from a fertile soil by an excellent agricultural population, a wealthy mercantile community, and defended by a devoted vassalage. Such was this little patriarchal State after the protracted strife which has been related; we shall have to exhibit her, in less than half a century, on the verge of annihilation from the predatory inroads of the Mahrattas.

The Coming of the Marāthas.

—In order to mark with exactitude the introduction of the Mahrattas into Rajasthan, we must revert to the period ^[32] when the dastardly intrigues of the advisers of Muhammad Shah surrendered to them as tribute the chauth, or fourth of his revenues. Whether in the full tide of successful invasion, these spoilers deemed any other argument than force to be requisite in order to justify their extortions, they had in this surrender a concession of which the subtle Mahrattas were well capable of availing themselves; and as the Mogul claimed sovereignty over the whole of Rajasthan, they might plausibly urge their right of chauth, as applicable to all the territories subordinate to the empire.

The Rājput Coalition.

—The rapidity with which these desultory bands flew from conquest to conquest appears to have alarmed the Rajputs, and again brought about a coalition, which, with the characteristic peculiarity of all such contracts, was commenced by matrimonial alliances. On this occasion, Bijai Singh, the heir of Marwar, was affianced to the Rana’s daughter, who at the same time reconciled the princes [421] of Marwar and Amber, whose positions at the court of the Mogul often brought their national jealousies into conflict, as they alternately took the lead in his councils: for it was rare to find both in the same line of politics. These matters were arranged at Udaipur.^[33] But as we have often had occasion to observe, no public [422] or general benefit ever resulted from these alliances, which were obstructed by the multitude of petty jealousies inseparable from clanship; even while this treaty was in discussion, the fruit of the triple league formed against the tyranny of Aurangzeb was about to show its baneful influence, as will presently appear.

Bājirāo visits Mewār. Negotiations with the Marāthas.

—When Malwa was acquired by the Mahrattas, followed by the cession of the chauth, their leader, Bajirao, repaired to Mewar, where his visit created great alarm.^[34] The Rana desired to avoid a personal interview, and sent as his ambassadors [423], the chief of Salumbar and his prime minister, Biharidas. Long discussions followed as to the mode of Bajirao’s reception, which was settled to be on the same footing as the Raja of Banera,^[35] and that he should be seated in front of the throne. A treaty followed, stipulating an annual tribute, which remained in force during ten years,^[36] when grasping at the whole they despised a part, and the treaty became a nullity.^[37] The dissensions which arose soon after, in consequence of the Rajput engagements, afforded the opportunity sought for to mix in their internal concerns.

Right of Primogeniture.

—It may be recollected that in the family engagements formed by Rana Amra there was an obligation to invest the issue of such marriage with the rights of primogeniture; and the death of Sawai Jai Singh ^[38] of Amber, two years after Nadir’s invasion, brought that stipulation into effect. His eldest son, Isari Singh, was proclaimed Raja, but a strong party supported Madho Singh, the Rana’s nephew, and the stipulated, against the natural order of succession. We are [424] left in doubt as to the real designs of Jai Singh in maintaining his guarantee, which was doubtless inconvenient; but that Madho Singh was not brought up to the expectation is evident, from his holding a fief of the Rana Sangram, who appropriated the domain of Rampura for his support, subject to the service of one thousand horse and two thousand foot, formally sanctioned by his father, who allowed the transfer of his services. On the other hand, the letter of permission entitles him Kshema, ‘prosperous,’ an epithet only applied to the heir-apparent of Jaipur. Five years, however, elapsed before any extraordinary exertions were made to annul the rights of Isari Singh, who led his vassals to the Sutlej in order to oppose the first invasion of the Duranis.^[39] It would be tedious to give even an epitome of the intrigues for the development of this object, which properly belong to the annals of Amber, and whence resulted many of the troubles of Rajputana. The Rana took the field with his nephew, and was met by Isari Singh,^[40] supported by the Mahrattas; but the Sesodias did not evince in the battle of Rajmahall that gallantry which must have its source in moral strength: they were defeated and fled. The Rana vented his indignation in a galling sarcasm; he gave the sword of state to a common courtesan to carry in procession, observing “it was a woman’s weapon in these degenerate times”: a remark the degrading severity of which made a lasting impression in the decline of Mewar. Elated with this success, Isari Singh carried his resentments and his auxiliaries, under Sindhia, against the Haras of Kotah and Bundi, who supported the cause of his antagonist. Kotah stood a siege and was gallantly defended, and Sindhia (Apaji) lost an arm:^[41] on this occasion both the States suffered a diminution of territory, and were subjected to tribute. The Rana, following the example of the Kachhwahas, called in as auxiliary Malhar Rao Holkar, and engaged to pay sixty-four lakhs of rupees (£800,000) on the deposal of Isari Singh. To avoid degradation this unfortunate prince resolved on suicide, and a dose of poison gave Madho Singh the gaddi, Holkar his bribe, and the Mahrattas a firm hold upon Rajasthan. Such was the cause of Rajput abasement; the moral force of the vassals was lost in a contest unjust in all its associations, and from this period we have only the degrading spectacle of civil strife and predatory spoliation till the existing treaty of A.D. 1817 [425].

CHAPTER 15