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 the gaddi of
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 not
even 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 the kunguras (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, the an of 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 Army
A.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 glory
and 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].
CHAPTER 15
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 the
gaddi of Jodhpur. The Khan accepted the conditions and
ratified the engagement on the Koran, and to add to the solemnity
of 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 Jaipur
territory 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 Man
from 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 the
faction 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 the
gaddi, 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 resentment
pervaded 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 the
chief 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! In A.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.