Extending our definition, we may pronounce the course of the Jumna to indicate the central fall of that immense vale which has its northern slope from the base of the Himalaya, and the southern from that of the Vindhya mountains.
It is not in contemplation to delineate the varied course of the magnificent Nerbudda, though I have abundant means; for the moment we ascend the summit of the tropical[40] Vindhya, to descend into the valley of the Nerbudda, we abandon Rajasthan and the Rajputs for the aboriginal races, the first proprietors of the land. These I shall leave to others, and commence and end with the Chambal, the paramount lord of the floods of Central India [16].
The Sipra from Pipalda, the little Sind[41] from Dewas, and other minor streams passing Ujjain, all unite with the Chambal in different stages before he breaks through the plateau.
The Kali Sind, from Bagri, and its petty branch, the Sodwia, from Raghugarh; the Niwaz (or Jamniri), from Morsukri and Magarda; the Parbati, from the pass of Amlakhera, with its more eastern arm from Daulatpur, uniting at Pharhar, are all points in the crest of the Vindhya range, whence they pursue their course through the plateau, rolling over precipices,[42] till engulfed in the Chambal at the ferries of Nunera and Pali. All these unite on the right bank.
On the left bank his flood is increased by the Banas, fed by the perennial streams from the Aravalli, and the Berach from the lakes of Udaipur; and after watering Mewar, the southern frontier of Jaipur, and the highlands of Karauli, the river turns south to unite at the holy Sangam,[43] Rameswar. Minor streams contribute (unworthy, however, of separate notice), and after a thousand involutions he reaches the Jumna, at the holy Triveni,[44] or ‘triple-allied’ stream, between Etawa and Kalpi.
The course of the Chambal, not reckoning the minor sinuosities, is upwards of five hundred miles;[45] and along its banks specimens of nearly every race now existing in India may be found: Sondis, Chandarawats, Sesodias, Haras, Gaur, Jadon, Sakarwal, Gujar, Jat,[46] Tuar, Chauhan, Bhadauria, Kachhwaha, Sengar, Bundela; each in associations of various magnitudes, from the substantive state of the little republic communes between the Chambal and Kuwari[47] [17].
The Luni, from its sources, the sacred lakes of Pushkar and Ajmer, and the more remote arm from Parbatsar to its embouchure in the great western salt marsh, the Rann, has a course of more than three hundred miles.
In the term Eirinon of the historians of Alexander, we have the corruption of the word Ran or Rann,[50] still used to describe that extensive fen formed by the deposits of the Luni, and the equally saturated saline streams from the southern desert of Dhat. It is one hundred and fifty miles in length; and where broadest, from Bhuj to Baliari, about seventy:[51] in which direction the caravans cross, having as a place of halt an insulated oasis in this mediterranean salt marsh. In the dry season, nothing meets the eye but an extensive and glaring sheet of salt, spread over its insidious surface, full of dangerous quicksands: and in the rains it is a dirty saline solution, up to the camels’ girths in many places. The little oasis, the Khari Kaba, furnishes pasture for this useful animal and rest for the traveller pursuing his journey to either bank.
Such phenomena are common to the desert, more particularly where these extensive saline depositions exist, but varying from certain causes. In most cases, this powerfully magnifying and reflecting medium is a vertical stratum; at first dense and opaque, it gradually attenuates with increased temperature, till the maximum of heat, which it can no longer resist, drives it off in an ethereal vapour. This optical deception, well known to the Rajputs, is called sikot, or ‘winter castles,’ because chiefly visible in the cold season: hence, possibly, originated the equally illusory and delightful ‘Chateau en Espagne,’ so well known in the west.[54]
Jaisalmer is everywhere encircled by desert; and that portion round the capital might not be improperly termed an oasis, in which wheat, barley, and even rice are produced. The fortress is erected on the extremity of a range of some hundred feet in elevation, which can be traced beyond its southern confines to the ruins of the ancient Chhotan erected upon them, and which tradition has preserved as the capital of a tribe, or prince, termed Hapa, of whom no other trace exists. It is not unlikely that this ridge may be connected with that which runs through the rich province of Jalor; consequently an offset from the base of Abu.
Though all these regions collectively bear the term Marusthali, or ‘region of death’ (the emphatic and figurative phrase for the desert), the restrictive definition applies to a part only, that under the dominion of the Rathor race [19].
From Balotra on the Luni, throughout the whole of Dhat and Umrasumra, the western portion of Jaisalmer, and a broad strip between the southern limits of Daudputra and Bikaner, there is real solitude and desolation. But from the Sutlej to the Rann, a space of five hundred miles of longitudinal distance, and varying in breadth from fifty to one hundred miles, numerous oases are found, where the shepherds from the valley of the Indus and the Thal pasture their flocks. The springs of water in these places have various appellations, tar, par, rar, dar, all expressive of the element, round which assemble the Rajars, Sodhas, Mangalias, and Sahariyas,[55] inhabiting the desert.
I will not touch on the salt lakes or natron beds, or the other products of the desert, vegetable or mineral; though the latter might soon be described, being confined to the jasper rock near Jaisalmer, which has been much used in the beautiful arabesques of that fairy fabric, at Agra, the mausoleum of Shah Jahan’s queen.
Neither shall I describe the valley of the Indus, or that portion eastward of the stream, the termination of the sand ridges of the desert. I will merely remark, that the small stream which breaks from the Indus at Dara, seven miles north of the insulated Bakhar, and falls into the ocean at Lakhpat, shows the breadth of this eastern portion of the valley, which forms the western boundary of the desert. A traveller proceeding from the Khichi or flats of Sind to the east, sees the line of the desert distinctly marked, with its elevated tibas or sand ridges under which flows the Sankra, which is generally dry except at periodical inundations. These sand-hills are of considerable elevation, and may be considered the limit of the inundation of the ‘sweet river,’ the Mitha Maran, a Scythic or Tatar name for river, and by which alone the Indus is known, from the Panjnad[56] to the ocean [20].
1. Or ‘regal (rāj) dwelling (thān).‘
2. It is rather singular that the Sind River will mark this eastern boundary, as does the Indus (or great Sind) that to the west. East of this minor Sind the Hindu princes are not of pure blood, and are excluded from Rajasthan or Rajwara.
3. [Rājputāna, as now officially defined, lies between lat. 23° 3´ and 30° 12´ N., and long. 69° 30´ and 78° 17´ E., the total area, according to the Census Report, 1911, including Ajmer-Merwāra, being 131,698 square miles.]
4. Engraved by that meritorious artist Mr. Walker, engraver to the East India Company, who, I trust, will be able to make a fuller use of my materials hereafter. [This has been replaced by a modern map.]
5. [James Rennell, 1742-1830.]
6. When the war of 1817 broke out, copies of my map on a reduced scale were sent to all the divisions of the armies in the field, and came into possession of many of the staff. Transcripts were made which were brought to Europe, and portions introduced into every recent map of India. One map has, indeed, been given, in a manner to induce a supposition that the furnisher of the materials was the author of them. It has fulfilled a prediction of the Marquess of Hastings, who, foreseeing the impossibility of such materials remaining private property, “and the danger of their being appropriated by others,” and desirous that the author should derive the full advantage of his labours, had it signified that the claims for recompense, on the records of successive governments, should not be deferred. It will not be inferred the author is surprised at what he remarks. While he claims priority for himself, he is the last person to wish to see a halt in science—
7. My esteemed friend, Graeme Mercer, Esq. (of Maevisbank), who stimulated my exertions with his approbation.
8. Many incidents in these journeys would require no aid of imagination to touch on the romantic, but they can have no place here.
9. Eastern tableland.
10. Sind River.
11. Parbati River.
12. Kali Sind River.
13. Passage of the Chambal and junction of the Par.
14. The Shaikh brought me specimens of the rock, which is siliceous; and also a piece of brick of the very ancient fortress of Sehwan, and some of the grain from its pits, charred and alleged by tradition to have lain there since the period of Raja Bhartarihari, the brother of Vikramaditya. It is not impossible that it might be owing to Alexander’s terrific progress, and to their supplies being destroyed by fire. Sehwan is conjectured by Captain Pottinger to be the capital of Musicanus. [The capital of the Sogdoi has been identified with Alor or Aror; but Cunningham places it between Alor and Uchh. The capital of Mousikanos was possibly Alor, and Sehwān the Sindimana of the Greeks. But, owing to changes in the course of the Lower Indus, it is very difficult to identify ancient sites (McCrindle, Alexander, 157, 354 f.).]
15. His health was worn out at length, and he became the victim of depressed spirits. He died suddenly: I believe poisoned. Fateh, almost as zealous as Madari, also died in the pursuit. Geography has been destructive to all who have pursued it with ardour in the East.
16. A valuable and ancient work, which I presented to the Royal Asiatic Society.
17. It is, however, limited to Malwa, whose geography was greatly improved and enlarged by the labours of Captain Dangerfield; and though my materials could fill up the whole of this province, I merely insert the chief points to connect it with Rajasthan.
18. Captain P. T. Waugh, 10th Regiment Light Cavalry, Bengal.
19. Mr. J. B. Fraser [whose book was published in 1825].
20. My last journey, in 1822-23, was from Udaipur, through these countries towards the Delta of the Indus, but more with a view to historical and antiquarian than geographical research. It proved the most fruitful of all my many journeys. [The results are recorded in Travels in Western India, published in 1839, after the author’s death.]
21. Guru Sikhar.
22. Its classic name is Vetravati, Vetra being the common willow [or reed] in Sanskrit; said by Wilford to be the same in Welsh.
23. Literally ‘the central (madhya) flat.’ [It means ‘Land of the Med tribe.’]
24. Meaning ‘table (pat) mountain (ar).’—Although ar may not be found in any Sanskrit dictionary with the signification ‘mountain,’ yet it appears to be a primitive root possessing such meaning—instance, Ar-buddha, ‘hill of Buddha’; Aravalli, ‘hill of strength.’ Ar is Hebrew for ‘mountain’ (qu. Ararat?) Ὅρος in Greek? The common word for a mountain in Sanskrit, gir, is equally so in Hebrew. [These derivations are out of date. The origin of the word patār is obscure. Sir G. Grierson, to whom the question was referred, suggests a connexion with Marāthi pathār, ‘a tableland,’ or Gujarati pathār (Skr. prastara, ‘expanse, extent’). The word is probably not connected with Hindi pāt, ‘a board.’]
25. The Betwa River runs under the tableland just alluded to, on the east.
26. I am familiar with these regions, and confidently predict that when a similar measurement shall be made from the Betwa to Kotah, these results will little err, and the error will be in having made Kotah somewhat too elevated, and the bed of the Betwa a little too low. [Udaipur city is 1950 feet above sea-level.]
27. Central India, a term which I first applied as the title of the map presented to the Marquess of Hastings, in 1815, ‘of Central and Western India,’ and since become familiar. [Usually applied to the Ganges-Jumna Duāb.]
28. Let it be remembered that the Aravalli, though it loses its tabular form, sends its branches north, terminating at Delhi.
29. Those who have marched from Baroda towards Malwa and marked the irregularities of surface will admit this chain of connexion of the Vindhya and Aravalli.
30. ‘The refuge of strength’ [?], a title justly merited, from its affording protection to the most ancient sovereign race which holds dominion, whether in the east or west—the ancient stock of the Suryavans, the Heliadai of India, our ‘children of the sun,’ the princes of Mewar. [Ārāvalli probably means ‘Corner Line.’]
31. It was my intention to have penetrated through their singular abodes; and I had negotiated, and obtained of these ‘forest lords’ a promise of hospitable passport, of which I have never allowed myself to doubt, as the virtues of pledged faith and hospitality are ever to be found in stronger keeping in the inverse ratio of civilization. Many years ago one of my parties was permitted to range through this tract. In one of the passes of their lengthened valleys ‘The Lord of the Mountain’ was dead: the men were all abroad, and his widow alone in the hut. Madari told his story, and claimed her surety and passport; which the Bhilni delivered from the quiver of her late lord; and the arrow carried in his hand was as well recognised as the cumbrous roll with all its seals and appendages of a traveller in Europe.
32. Meru signifies ‘a hill’ in Sanskrit, hence Komal, or properly Kūmbhalmer, is ‘the hill’ or ‘mountain of Kūmbha,’ a prince whose exploits are narrated. Likewise Ajmer is the ‘hill of Ajaya,’ the ‘Invincible’ hill. Mer is with the long é, like Mère in French, in classical orthography. [Ajmer, ‘hill of Aja, Chauhān.’]
33. At the point of my descent this was characteristically illustrated by my Rajput friend of Semar, whose domain had been invaded and cow-pens emptied, but a few days before, by the mountain bandit of Sirohi. With their booty they took the shortest and not most practicable road: but though their alpine kine are pretty well accustomed to leaping in such abodes, it would appear they had hesitated here. The difficulty was soon got over by one of the Minas, who with his dagger transfixed one and rolled him over the height, his carcase serving at once as a precedent and a stepping-stone for his horned kindred.
34. [“Oldest of all the physical features which intersect the continent is the range of mountains known as the Arāvallis, which strikes across the Peninsula from north-east to south-west, overlooking the sandy wastes of Rājputāna. The Arāvallis are but the depressed and degraded relics of a far more prominent mountain system, which stood, in Palaeozoic times, on the edge of the Rājputāna Sea. The disintegrated rocks which once formed part of the Arāvallis are now spread out in wide red-stone plains to the east” (IGI, i. 1).]
35. Near this the Chambal first breaks into the Patar.
36. Here is the celebrated pass through the mountains.
37. Here the Niwaz breaks the chain.
38. Both celebrated passes, where the ranges are very complicated.
39. I have rescued a few of these from oblivion to present to my countrymen.
40. Hence its name, Vindhya, ‘the barrier,’ to the further progress of the sun in his northern declination. [Skr. root, bind, bid, ‘to divide.’]
41. This the fourth Sind of India. We have, first, the Sind or Indus; this little Sind; then the Kali Sind, or ‘black river’; and again the Sind rising at Latoti, on the plateau west and above Sironj. Sin is a Scythic word for river (now unused), so applied by the Hindus. [Skr. Sindhu, probably from the root syand, ‘to flow.’]
42. The falls of the Kali Sind through the rocks at Gagraun and the Parbati at Chapra (Gugal) are well worthy of a visit. The latter, though I encamped twice at Chapra, from which it was reputed five miles, I did not see.
43. Sangam is the point of confluence of two or more rivers, always sacred to Mahadeva.
44. The Jumna, Chambal, and Sind [triveni, ‘triple braid’].
45. [650 miles.]
46. The only tribes not of Rajput blood.
47. The ‘virgin’ stream.
48. I do not repeat the names of towns forming the arrondissements of the various States; they are distinctly laid down in the boundary lines of each.
49. Thal is the general term for the sand ridges of the desert. [Skr. sthala, ‘firm ground.’]
50. Most probably a corruption of aranya, or desert; [or irina, īrina, ‘desert, salt soil’], so that the Greek mode of writing it is more correct than the present.
51. [The area of the Rann is about 9000 square miles: its length 150, breadth, 60 miles. Bhuj lies inland, not on the banks of the Rann.]
52. It is here the wild ass (gorkhar) roams at large, untamable as in the day of the Arabian Patriarch of Uz, “whose house I have made the wilderness, the barren land (or, according to the Hebrew, salt places), his dwelling. He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver” (Job xxxix. 6, 7).
53. Purwa.
54. I have beheld it from the top of the ruined fortress of Hissar with unlimited range of vision, no object to diverge its ray, save the miniature forests; the entire circle of the horizon a chain of more than fancy could form of palaces, towers, and these airy ‘pillars of heaven’ terminating in turn their ephemeral existence. But in the deserts of Dhat and Umrasumra, where the shepherds pasture their flocks, and especially where the alkaline plant is produced, the stratification is more horizontal, and produces more of the watery deception. It is this illusion to which the inspired writer refers, when he says, “the mock pool of the desert shall become real water” [Isaiah xxv. 7]. The inhabitants of the desert term it Chitram, literally ‘the picture,’ by no means an unhappy designation.
55. Sehraie [in the text], from sahra, ‘desert.’ Hence Sarrazin, or Saracen, is a corruption from sahra, ‘desert,’ and zadan, ‘to strike,’ contracted. Rāhzani, ‘to strike on the road’ (rāh). Rāhbar, ‘on the road,’ corrupted by the Pindaris to labar, the designation of their forays. [The true name is Sahariya, which has been connected with that of the Savara, a tribe in Eastern India. Saracen comes to us from the late Latin Saraceni, of which the origin is unknown; it cannot be derived from the Arabic Sharqi, ‘eastern’ (see New English Dictionary, s.v.).]
56. The confluent arms or sources of the Indus.