Siege of Khandela.

—The gallant Hanwant now prepared for the defence of the lands which his valour had redeemed. His foeman made a lavish application of the wealth which his selfish policy had acquired, and Rewasa and other fiefs were soon in his possession. The town of Khandela, being open, soon followed, but the castle held out sufficiently long to enable him to strengthen and provision Kot, which he determined to defend to the last. Having withstood the attacks of the enemy, during three weeks, in the almost ruined castle, he sallied out sword in hand, and gained Kot, where he assembled all those yet faithful to the family, and determined to stand or fall with the last stronghold of Khandela. The other chiefs of the confederation beheld with indignation this unprovoked and avaricious aggression on the minor princes of Khandela, not only because of its abstract injustice, but of the undue aggrandizement of this inferior branch of the Raesalots, and the means employed, namely, the common enemy of their country. Many leagued for its prevention, but some were bribed by the offer of a part of the domain, and those who were too virtuous to be corrupted, found their intentions defeated by the necessity of defending their own homes against the detachments of Amir Khan, sent by desire of Sikar to neutralize their efforts. The court was steeled against all remonstrance, from the unhappy rupture at Bhumgarh, the blockade of which, it was represented, was broken by the conduct of the followers of Khandela.

Death of Hanwant Singh.

—Hanwant and some hundreds of his brave clansmen were thus left to their own resources. During three months they defended themselves in a position outside the castle, when a general assault was made on his intrenchments. He was advised to retreat into the castle, but he nobly replied, “Khandela is gone for ever, if we are reduced to shelter ourselves behind walls”; and he called upon his brethren to repel the attack or perish. Hanwant cheered on his kinsmen, who charged the battalions sword in hand, drove them from their guns, and completely cleared the intrenchments. But the enemy returned to the conflict, which lasted from morn until nightfall. Another sortie was made; again the enemy was ignominiously dislodged, but the gallant Hanwant, leading his men to the very muzzle of the guns, received a shot which ended his career. The victory remained with the besieged, but the death of their leader [422] disconcerted his clansmen, who retired within the fort. Five hundred of the mercenary Pathans and men of Sikar (a number equal to the whole of the defenders) accompanied to the shades the last intrepid Raesalot of Khandela.

The next morning an armistice for the removal of the wounded and obsequies of the dead was agreed to, during which terms were offered, and refused by the garrison. As soon as the death of Hanwant was known, the Udaipur chief, who from the first had upheld the cause of justice, sent additional aid both in men and supplies; and had the Khetri chief been at his estates, the cause would have been further supported; but he was at court, and had left orders with his son to act according to the advice of the chief of Baswa, who had been gained over to the interests of Sikar by the bribe of participation in the conquered lands. Nevertheless, the garrison held out, under every privation, for five weeks longer, their only sustenance at length being a little Indian corn introduced by the exertions of individual Minas. At this extremity, an offer being made of ten townships, they surrendered. Partap Singh took his share of this remnant of his patrimony, but his co-heir Abhai Singh inherited too much of Raesal’s spirit to degrade himself by owing aught to his criminal vassal and kinsman. It would have been well for Partap had he shown the same spirit; for Lachhman Singh, now lord of Khandela, felt too acutely the injustice of his success, to allow the rightful heir to remain upon his patrimony; and he only allowed sufficient time to elapse for the consolidation of his acquisition, before he expelled the young prince. Both the co-heirs, Abhai Singh and Partap, now reside at Jhunjhunu, where each receives five rupees a day, from a joint purse made for them by the Sadhanis, nor at present[15] is there a ray of hope of their restoration to Khandela.

In 1814, when Misr Sheonarayan, then minister of Jaipur, was involved in great pecuniary difficulties, to get rid of the importunities of Amir Khan, he cast his eyes towards the Sikar chief, who had long been desirous to have his usurpation sanctioned by the court; and it was stipulated that on the payment of nine lakhs of rupees (namely, five from himself, with the authority and force of Jaipur to raise the rest from the Sadhanis), he should receive the patta of investiture of Khandela. Amir Khan, the mutual agent on this occasion, was then at Ranoli, where Lachhman Singh met him and paid the amount, receiving his receipt, which was exchanged for the grant under the great seal.

Lachhman Singh gains Influence at Jaipur.

—Immediately after, Lachhman Singh proceeded to court, and upon the further payment [423] of one year’s tribute in advance, henceforth fixed at fifty-seven thousand rupees, he received from the hands of his liege lord, the Raja Jagat Singh, the khilat of investiture. Thus, by the ambition of Sikar, the cupidity of the court, and the jealousies and avarice of the Sadhanis, the birthright of the lineal heirs of Raesal was alienated.

Lachhman Singh, by his talents and wealth, soon established his influence at the court of his sovereign; but the jealousy which this excited in the Purohit minister of the day very nearly lost him his dearly bought acquisition. It will be recollected that a Brahman obtained the lease of the lands of Khandela, and that for his extortions he was expelled with disgrace. He proceeded, however, in his career of ambition; subverted the influence of his patron Sheonarayan Misr, forcing him to commit suicide, ruined the prospects of his son, and by successful and daring intrigue established himself in the ministerial chair of Amber. The influence of Lachhman Singh, who was consulted on all occasions, gave him umbrage, and he determined to get rid of him. To drive him into opposition to his sovereign was his aim, and to effect this there was no better method than to sanction an attack upon Khandela. The Sadhanis, whose avarice and jealousies made them overlook their true interests, readily united to the troops of the court, and Khandela was besieged. Lachhman Singh, on this occasion, showed he was no common character. He tranquilly abided the issue at Jaipur, thus neutralizing the malignity of the Purohit, while, to ensure the safety of Khandela, a timely supply of money to the partisan, Jamshid Khan, brought his battalions to threaten the Purohit in his camp. Completely foiled by the superior tact of Lachhman Singh, the Brahman was compelled to abandon the undertaking and to return to the capital, where his anger made him throw aside the mask, and attempt to secure the person of his enemy. The Sikar chief had a narrow escape: he fled with fifty horse, hotly pursued by his adversary, while his effects, and those of his partisans (amongst whom was the Samod chief) were confiscated. The Sadhanis, led by the chiefs of Khetri and Baswa, even after the Purohit had left them, made a bold attempt to capture Khandela, which was defeated, and young Abhai Singh, who was made a puppet on the occasion, witnessed the last defeat of his hopes.

If necessity or expediency could palliate or justify such nefarious acts, it would be shown in the good consequences that have resulted from evil. The discord and bloodshed produced by the partition of authority between the sons of Bahadur [424] Singh are now at an end. Lachhman Singh is the sole tyrant in Khandela, and so long as the system which he has established is maintained, he may laugh at the efforts, not only of the Sadhanis, but of the court itself, to supplant him.

Let us, in a few words, trace the family of Lachhman Singh. It will be recollected that Raesal, the first Raja amongst the sons of Shaikhji, had seven sons, the fourth of whom, Tirmall (who obtained the title of Rao), held Kasli and its eighty-four townships in appanage. His son, Hari Singh, wrested the district of Bilara, with its one hundred and twenty-five townships, from the Kaimkhanis of Fatehpur, and shortly after, twenty-five more from Rewasa. Sheo Singh, the son of Hari, captured Fatehpur itself, the chief abode of the Kaimkhanis, where he established himself. His son, Chand Singh, founded Sikar, whose lineal descendant, Devi Singh, adopted Lachhman Singh, son of his near kinsman, the Shahpura Thakur. The estates of Sikar were in admirable order when Lachhman succeeded to his uncle, whose policy was of the exterminating sort. Lachhman improved upon it; and long before he acquired Khandela, had demolished all the castles of his inferior feudatories, not even sparing that of Shahpura, the place of his nativity, as well as Bilara, Bathoti, and Kasli; and so completely did he allow the ties of adoption to supersede those of blood, that his own father preferred exile, to living under a son who, covered with ‘the turban of Sikar,’ forgot the author of his life, and retired to Jodhpur.

Lachhman Singh has now a compact and improving country, containing five hundred towns and villages, yielding a revenue of eight lakhs of rupees. Desirous of transmitting his name to posterity, he erected the castle of Lachhmangarh,[16] and has fortified many other strongholds, for the defence of which he has formed a little army, which, in these regions, merits the title of regulars, consisting of eight battalions of Aligol,[17] armed with matchlocks, with a brigade of guns to each battalion. He has besides an efficient cavalry, consisting of one thousand horse, half of which are Bargirs,[18] or stipendiary; the other half Jagirdars, having lands assigned for their support. With such means, and with his ambition, there is very little doubt that, had not the alliance of his liege lord of Amber with the English Government put a stop to the predatory system, he would, by means of the same worthy allies by whose [425] aid he obtained Khandela,[19] before this time have made himself supreme in Shaikhavati.

Having thus brought to a conclusion the history of the princes of Khandela, we shall give a brief account of the other branches of the Shaikhawats, especially the most powerful, the Sadhani.

The Sādhāni Shaikhāwats.

—The Sadhanis are descended from Bhojraj, the third son of Raesal, and in the division of fiefs amongst his seven sons, obtained Udaipur and its dependencies. Bhojraj had a numerous issue, styled Bhojani, who arrogated their full share of importance in the infancy of the confederacy, and in process of time, from some circumstance not related, perhaps the mere advantage of locality, their chief city became the rendezvous for the great council of the federation, which is still in the defile of Udaipur.[20]

Several generations subsequent to Bhojraj, Jagram succeeded to the lands of Udaipur. He had six sons, the eldest of whom, Sadhu, quarrelled with his father, on some ceremonial connected with the celebration of the military festival, the Dasahra,[21] and quitting the paternal roof, sought his fortunes abroad. At this time, almost all the tract now inhabited by the Sadhanis was dependent on Fatehpur (Jhunjhunu), the residence of a Nawab of the Kaimkhani tribe of Afghans,[22] who held it as a fief of the empire. To him Sadhu repaired, and was received with favour, and by his talents and courage rose in consideration, until he was eventually intrusted with the entire management of affairs. There are two accounts of the mode of his ulterior advancement: both may be correct. One is, that the Nawab, having no children, adopted young Sadhu, and assigned to him Jhunjhunu and its eighty-four dependencies, which he retained on the Kaimkhani’s death. The other, and less favourable though equally probable account, is that, feeling his influence firmly established, he hinted to his patron, that the township of —— was prepared for his future residence, where he should enjoy a sufficient pension, as he intended to retain possession of his delegated authority. So completely had he supplanted the Kaimkhani, that he found himself utterly unable to make a party against the ungrateful Shaikhawat. He therefore fled from Jhunjhunu to Fatehpur, the other division of his authority, or at [426] least one of his own kin, who espoused his cause, and prepared to expel the traitor from Jhunjhunu. Sadhu, in this emergency, applied to his father, requesting him to call upon his brethren, as it was a common cause. The old chief, who, in his son’s success, forgave and forgot the conduct which made him leave his roof, instantly addressed another son, then serving with his liege lord, the Mirza Raja Jai Singh, in the imperial army, to obtain succour for him; and some regular troops with guns were immediately dispatched to reinforce young Sadhu and maintain his usurpation, which was accomplished, and moreover Fatehpur was added to Jhunjhunu. Sadhu bestowed the former with its dependencies, equal in value to his own share, on his brother, for his timely aid, and both, according to previous stipulation, agreed to acknowledge their obligations to the Raja by an annual tribute and nazarana on all lapses, as lord-paramount. Sadhu soon after wrested Singhana, containing one hundred and twenty-five villages, from another branch of the Kaimkhanis; Sultana, with its Chaurasi, or division of eighty-four townships, from the Gaur Rajputs; and Khetri and its dependencies from the Tuars, the descendants of the ancient emperors of Delhi: so that, in process of time, he possessed himself of a territory comprising more than one thousand towns and villages. Shortly before his death he divided the conquered lands amongst his five sons, whose descendants, adopting his name as the patronymic, are called Sadhani; namely, Zorawar Singh, Kishan Singh, Nawal Singh, Kesari Singh, and Pahar Singh.

Zorawar Singh, besides the paternal and original estates, had, in virtue of primogeniture, the town of Chokri and its twelve subordinate villages, with all the other emblems of state, as the elephants, palkis, etc.; and although the cupidity of the Khetri chief, the descendant of the second son, Kishan, has wrested the patrimony from the elder branch, who has now only Chokri, yet the distinctions of birth are never lost in those of fortune, and the petty chief of Chokri, with its twelve small townships, is looked upon as the superior of Abhai Singh, though the lord of five hundred villages.

The descendants of the other four sons, now the most distinguished of the Sadhanis, are,[23]

Abhai Singh of Khetri;
Shyam Singh of Baswa;
Gyan Singh of Nawalgarh;[24]
Sher Singh of Sultana [427].

Besides the patrimonies assigned to the five sons of Sadhu, he left the districts of Singhana, Jhunjhunu, and Surajgarh (the ancient Oricha), to be held in joint heirship by the junior members of his stock. The first, with its one hundred and twenty-five villages, has been usurped by Abhai Singh of Khetri, but the others still continue to be frittered away in sub-infeudations among this numerous and ever-spreading frerage.

Abhai Singh has assumed the same importance amongst the Sadhanis that Lachhman Singh has amongst the Raesalots, and both by the same means, crime and usurpation. The Sikar chief has despoiled his senior branch of Khandela; and the Khetri chief has not only despoiled the senior, but also the junior, of the five branches of Sadhu. The transaction which produced the last result, whereby the descendant of Sher Singh lost Sultana, is so peculiarly atrocious, that it is worth relating, as a proof to what lengths the Rajput will go ‘to get land.’

Bāgh Singh seizes Sultāna.

—Pahar Singh had an only son, named Bhopal, who being killed in an attempt on Loharu, he adopted the younger son of his nephew, Bagh Singh of Khetri. On the death of his adopted father, the Sultana chief, being too young to undertake the management of his fief in person, remained under the paternal roof. It would appear as if this alienation of political rights could also alienate affection and rupture all the ties of kindred, for this unnatural father imbrued his hands in the blood of his own child, and annexed Sultana to Khetri. But the monster grievously suffered for the deed; he became the scorn of his kinsmen, “who spit at him and threw dust on his head,” until he secluded himself from the gaze of mankind. The wife of his bosom ever after refused to look upon him; she managed the estates for her surviving son, the present Abhai Singh. During twelve years that Bagh Singh survived, he never quitted his apartment in the castle of Khetri, until carried out to be burned, amidst the execrations and contempt of his kinsmen.

The Lārkhānis.

—Having made the reader sufficiently acquainted with the genealogy of the Sadhanis, as well as of the Raesalots, we shall conclude with a brief notice of the Larkhanis, which term, translated ‘the beloved lords,’ ill accords with their occupation, as the most notorious marauders in Rajputana. Larla is a common infantine appellation, meaning ‘beloved’; but whether the adjunct of Khan to this son of Raesal, as well as to that of his youngest, Tajkhan (the crown of princes), was out of compliment to some other Muslim saint, we know not. Larkhan conquered his own [428] appanage, Danta Ramgarh, on the frontiers of Marwar, then a dependency of Sambhar. It is not unlikely that his father’s influence at court secured the possession to him. Besides this district, they have the tappa of Nosal, and altogether about eighty townships, including some held of the Rajas of Marwar, and Bikaner, to secure their abstinence from plunder within their bounds. The Larkhanis are a community of robbers; their name, like Pindari and Kazzak, is held in these regions to be synonymous with ‘freebooter,’ and as they can muster five hundred horse, their raids are rather formidable. Sometimes their nominal liege lord calls upon them for tribute, but being in a difficult country, and Ramgarh being a place of strength, they pay little regard to the call, unless backed by some of the mercenary partisans, such as Amir Khan, who contrived to get payment of arrears of tribute to the amount of twenty thousand rupees.

Revenues.

—We conclude this sketch with a rough statement of the revenues of Shaikhavati, which might yield in peace and prosperity, now for the first time beginning to beam upon them, from twenty-five to thirty lakhs of rupees; but at present they fall much short of this sum, and full one-half of the lands of the confederation are held by the chiefs of Sikar and Khetri—
  Rupees.
Lachhman Singh, of Sikar, including Khandela 800,000
Abhai Singh, of Khetri, including Kotputli, given by Lord Lake 600,000
Shyam Singh, of Baswa, including his brother Ranjit’s share of 40,000 (whom he killed) 190,000
Gyan Singh, of Nawalgarh, including Mandao, each fifty villages 70,000
Lachhman Singh, Mendsar, the chief sub-infeudation of Nawalgarh 30,000
Tain and its lands, divided amongst the twenty-seven great-grandsons of Zorawar Singh, eldest son of Sadhu 100,000
Udaipurvati 100,000
Manoharpur[25] 30,000
Larkhanis 100,000
Harramjis 40,000
Girdharpotas 40,000
Smaller estates 200,000
  2,300,000
  [429.]

The tribute established by Jaipur is as follows:—

  Rupees.
Sadhanis 200,000
Fatehpur 64,000
Udaipur and Babhai 22,000
Kasli 4,000
  350,000

Thus, supposing the revenues, as stated, at twenty-three lakhs, to be near the truth, and the tribute at three and a half, it would be an assessment of one-seventh of the whole, which is a fair proportion, and a measure of justice which the British Government would do well to imitate.

1. Dhūs is an expedient to hasten the compliance of a demand from a dependent. A party of horse proceeds to the township, and are commanded to receive so much per day till the exaction is complied with. If the dhūs is refused, it is considered tantamount to an appeal to arms. [Dhūsnā means ‘to butt like an ox,’ hence ‘to coerce.’]

2. Franklin, in his Life of George Thomas, describes this battle circumstantially; but makes it appear an affair of the Jaipur court, with Thomas and the Mahrattas, in which the Shaikhawats are not mentioned. Thomas gives the Rajput chivalry full praise for their gallant bearing.—Memoir of George Thomas, p. 109. [The battle was fought early in 1799 at Fatehpur, about 145 miles N.W. of Jaipur city (Compton, European Military Adventurers, 146 ff.).]

3. [Men clad in armour (Irvine, Army of the Indian Moghuls, 164).]

4. [See Vol. II. p. 863.]

5. The salvamenta, or blackmail of our own feudal system. See Vol. I. p. 203.

6. [See Vol. II. p. 876.]

7. [Such cenotaphs, known as pāliya, are common in Gujarāt (Forbes, Rās Māla, 691; Tod, Western India, 301).]

8. [Tribal levy.]

9. [Vol. II. p. 1095.]

10. [Twenty-five miles E. of Jaipur city.]

11. The second injunction was to keep the office of Faujdar, or commander of the forces, in the family of Shambhu Singh, Gugawat, a tribe always noted for their fidelity, and like the Mertias of Marwar, even a blind fidelity, to the gaddi whoever was the occupant. The third injunction is left blank in my manuscript.

12. His first act, after his emancipation from the dungeons of Amber, was the delicate negotiation at Dhani, the castle of Chand Singh, Gugawat. He died at Baswa, April 22, 1812, on his return from Macheri to Jaipur, where he had been unsuccessfully attempting a reconciliation between the courts. It will not be forgotten that the independence of the Naruka chief in Macheri had been mainly achieved by the Bohra, who was originally the homme d’affaires of the traitorous Naruka.

13. [These corps of militant devotees were commonly employed in Indian Native armies in the eighteenth century (Irvine, Army of the Indian Moghuls, 163; Broughton, Letters from a Mahratta Camp, 96, 106, 123; Russell, Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces, iii. 157).]

14. [A corruption of Hindi chhakra (Yule, Hobson-Jobson, 2nd ed. 407 f.).]

15. This was written in 1813-14.

16. Lachhmangarh, or ‘the castle of Lachhman,’ situated upon a lofty mountain [about 75 miles N.W. of Jaipur city], was erected in S. 1862, or A.D. 1806, though probably on the ruins of some more ancient fortress. It commands a most extensive prospect, and is quite a beacon in that country, studded with hill-castles. The town is built on the model of Jaipur, with regular streets intersecting each other at right angles, in which there are many wealthy merchants, who enjoy perfect security.

17. [The Ālīgol, ‘lofty, exalted troop,’ were irregular infantry in the Marātha service. Sometimes they were identified with the fanatical Ghāzis of the Afghān frontier (Irvine, Army of the Indian Moghuls, 164; Yule, Hobson-Jobson, 2nd ed. 15).]

18. [Cavalry provided with horses by the State, Vol. II. p. 819.]

19. Khandela is said to have derived its name from the Khokhar Rajputs [?]. The Khokhar is often mentioned in the Bhatti Annals, whom I have supposed to be the Ghakkar, who were certainly Indo-Scythic. [The Khokhars and Ghakkars or Gakkhars are often confounded (Rose, Glossary, ii. 540).] Khandela has four thousand houses, and eighty villages dependent on it.

20. The ancient name of Udaipur is said to be Kais; it contains three thousand houses, and has forty-five villages attached to it, divided into four portions.

21. [See Vol. II. p. 680.]

22. [The Kāimkhāni or Qāimkhāni are a sept of Muslim Chauhān Rājputs found in the Jīnd State and in Jaipur (Rose, Glossary, iii. 257). In the Rājputāna Census Report of 1911, however, they are classed among “Miscellaneous” Rājput septs (i. 286).]

23. It must be borne in mind that this was written in 1814.

24. Nawalgarh contains four thousand houses, environed by a shahrpanāh or rampart. It is on a more ancient site called Rolani, whose old castle in ruins is to the south-east, and the new one midway between it and the town, built by Nawal Singh in S. 1802, or A.D. 1746.

25. The Manoharpur chief was put to death by Raja Jagat Singh (vide Madari Lal’s Journal of A.D. 1814), and his lands were sequestrated and partitioned amongst the confederacy: the cause, his inciting the Rahtis or Ratis (an epithet for the proselyte Bhatti plunderers of Bhattiana) to invade and plunder the country.

CHAPTER 8

We have thus developed the origin and progress of the Kachhwaha tribe, as well as its scions of Shaikhavati and Macheri. To some, at least, it may be deemed no uninteresting object to trace in continuity the issue of a fugitive individual, spreading, in the course of eight hundred years, over a region of fifteen thousand square miles; and to know that forty thousand of his flesh and blood have been marshalled in the same field, defending, sword in hand, their country and their prince. The name of ‘country’ carries with it a magical power in the mind of the Rajput. The name of his wife or his mistress must never be mentioned at all, nor that of his country but with respect, or his sword is instantly unsheathed. Of these facts, numerous instances abound in these Annals; yet does the ignorant Pardesi (foreigner) venture to say there are no indigenous terms either for patriotism or gratitude in this country.

Boundaries and Extent.

—The boundaries of Amber and its dependencies are best seen by an inspection of the map. Its greatest breadth lies between Sambhar, touching the Marwar frontier on the west, and the town of Suraut, on the Jat frontier, east. This line is one hundred and twenty British miles, whilst its greatest breadth from north to south, including Shaikhavati, is one hundred and eighty. Its form is [430] very irregular. We may, however, estimate the surface of the parent State, Dhundhar or Jaipur, at nine thousand five hundred square miles, and Shaikhavati at five thousand four hundred; in all, fourteen thousand nine hundred square miles.[1]

Population.

—It is difficult to determine with exactitude the amount of the population of this region; but from the best information, one hundred and fifty souls to the square mile would not be too great a proportion in Amber, and eighty in Shaikhavati; giving an average of one hundred and twenty-four to the united area, which consequently contains 185,670; and when we consider the very great number of large towns in this region, it may not be above, but rather below, the truth. Dhundhar, the parent country, is calculated to contain four thousand townships, exclusive of purwas, or hamlets, and Shaikhavati about half that number, of which Lachhman Singh of Sikar and Khandela, and Abhai Singh of Khetri, have each about five hundred, or the half of the lands of the federation.[2]

Classification of Inhabitants.

—Of this population, it is still more difficult to classify its varied parts, although it may be asserted with confidence that the Rajputs bear but a small ratio to the rest,[3] whilst they may equal in number any individual class, except the aboriginal Minas, who, strange to say, are still the most numerous. The following are the principal tribes, and the order in which they follow may be considered as indicative of their relative numbers. 1. Minas; 2. Rajputs; 3. Brahmans; 4. Banias; 5. Jats; 6. Dhakar, or Kirar (qu. Kirata?); 7. Gujars.[4]

The Mīna Tribe.

—The Minas are subdivided into no less than thirty-two distinct clans or classes, but it would extend too much the Annals of this State to distinguish them. Moreover, as they belong to every State in Rajwara, we shall find a fitter occasion to give a general account of them. The immunities and privileges preserved to the Minas best attest the truth of the original induction of the exiled prince of Narwar to the sovereignty of Amber; and it is a curious fact, showing that such establishment must have been owing to adoption, not conquest, that this event was commemorated on every installation by a Mina of Kalikoh marking with his blood the tika of sovereignty on the forehead of the prince. The blood was obtained by incision of the great toe, and though, like many other antiquated usages, this has fallen into desuetude here (as has the same mode of inauguration of the Ranas by the Oghna Bhils), yet both in the one case and in the other, there cannot be more convincing evidence that these now outcasts were originally the masters. The Minas still enjoy the most confidential posts about the persons of the princes of Amber, having charge of the archives [431] and treasure in Jaigarh; they guard his person at night, and have that most delicate of all trusts, the charge of the rawala, or seraglio. In the earlier stages of Kachhwaha power, these their primitive subjects had the whole insignia of state, as well as the person of the prince, committed to their trust; but presuming upon this privilege too far, when they insisted that, in leaving their bounds, he should leave these emblems, the nakkaras and standards, with them, their pretensions were cancelled in their blood. The Minas, Jats, and Kirars are the principal cultivators, many of them holding large estates.[5]

Jāts.

—The Jats nearly equal the Minas in numbers, as well as in extent of possessions, and are, as usual, the most industrious of all husbandmen.

Brāhmans.

—Of Brahmans, following secular as well as sacred employments, there are more in Amber than in any other State in Rajwara; from which we are not to conclude that her princes were more religious than their neighbours, but, on the contrary, that they were greater sinners.

Rājputs.

—It is calculated that, even now, on an emergency, if a national war roused the patriotism of the Kachhwaha feudality, they could bring into the field thirty thousand of their kin and clan, or, to repeat their own emphatic phrase, “the sons of one father,” which includes the Narukas and the chiefs of the Shaikhawat federation.[6] Although the Kachhwahas, under their popular princes, as Pajun, Raja Man, and the Mirza Raja, have performed exploits as brilliant as any other tribes, yet they do not now enjoy the same reputation for courage as either the Rathors or Haras. This may be in part accounted for by the demoralization consequent upon their proximity to the Mogul court, and their participation in all enervating vices; but still more from the degradations they have suffered from the Mahrattas, and to which their western brethren have been less exposed. Every feeling, patriotic or domestic, became corrupted wherever their pernicious influence prevailed.

Soil, Husbandry, Products.

—Dhundhar contains every variety of soil, and the kharif and rabi, or autumnal and spring crops, are of nearly equal importance. Of the former bajra predominates over juar, and in the latter barley over wheat. The other grains, pulses, and vegetables, reared all over Hindustan, are here produced in abundance, and require not to be specified [432]. The sugar-cane used to be cultivated to a very great extent, but partly from extrinsic causes, and still more from its holding out such an allurement to the renters, the husbandman has been compelled to curtail this lucrative branch of agriculture; for although land fit for ikh (cane) is let at four to six rupees per bigha, sixty have been exacted before it was allowed to be reaped. Cotton of excellent quality is produced in considerable quantities in various districts, as are indigo and other dyes common to India. Neither do the implements of husbandry or their application differ from those which have been described in this and various other works sufficiently well known.[7]

Farming System.

—It is the practice in this State to farm its lands to the highest bidder; and the mode of farming is most pernicious to the interests of the State and the cultivating classes, both of whom it must eventually impoverish. The farmers-general are the wealthy bankers and merchants, who make their offers for entire districts; these they underlet in tappas, or subdivisions, the holders of which again subdivide them into single villages, or even shares of a village. With the profits of all these persons, the expenses attending collections, quartering of barkandazes, or armed police, are the poor Bhumias and Ryots saddled. Could they only know the point where exaction must stop, they would still have a stimulus to activity; but when the crops are nearly got in, and all just demands satisfied, they suddenly hear that a new renter has been installed in the district, having ousted the holder by some ten or twenty thousand rupees, and at the precise moment when the last toils of the husbandman were near completion. The renter has no remedy; he may go and “throw his turban at the door of the palace, and exclaim dohai, Raja Sahib!” till he is weary, or marched off to the Kotwal’s chabutra, and perhaps fined for making a disturbance.[8] Knowing, however, that there is little benefit to be derived from such a course, they generally submit, go through the whole accounts, make over the amount of collections, and with the host of vultures in their train, who, never unprepared for such changes, have been making the most of their ephemeral power by battening on the hard earnings of the peasantry, retire for this fresh band of harpies to pursue a like course. Nay, it is far from uncommon for three different renters to come upon the same district in one season, or even the crop of one season, for five or ten thousand rupees, annulling the existing engagement, no matter how far advanced. Such was the condition of this State; and when to these evils were superadded the exactions called dand, or barar, forced contributions to pay those armies of robbers who swept the lands, language cannot exaggerate the extent of misery. The love of country must be powerful indeed which can enchain man to a land so misgoverned, so unprotected [433].

Revenues.

—It is always a task of difficulty to obtain any correct account of the revenues of these States, which are ever fluctuating. We have now before us several schedules, both of past and present reigns, all said to be copied from the archives, in which the name of every district, together with its rent, town and transit duties, and other sources of income, are stated; but the details would afford little satisfaction, and doubtless the resident authorities have access to the fountain-head. The revenues of Dhundhar, of every description, fiscal, feudal, and tributary, or impost, are stated, in round numbers, at one crore of rupees, or about a million of pounds sterling, which, estimating the difference of the price of labour, may be deemed equivalent to four times that sum in England.[9] Since this estimate was made, there have been great alienations of territory, and no less than sixteen rich districts have been wrested from Amber by the Mahrattas, or her own rebel son, the Naruka chief of Macheri.

The following is the schedule of alienations:—

1. Kama[10] } Taken by General Perron, for his master Sindhia; since rented to the Jats, and retained by them.
2. Khori
3. Pahari
4. Kanti } Seized by the Macheri Rao [now in Alwar State]
5. Ukrod
6. Pandapan
7. Ghazi-ka-thana
8. Rampara (karda)
9. Ganwnri
10. Reni
11. Parbeni
12. Mozpur Harsana
13. Kanod or Kanaund[11]
14. Narnol		 { Taken by De Boigne and given to Murtaza Khan, Baraich, confirmed in them by Lord Lake.
15. Kotputli { Taken in the war of 1803-4, from the Mahrattas, and given by Lord Lake to Abhai Singh of Taken in the war of 1803-4, from the Mahrattas, Khetri.
16. Tonk
17. Rampura		 { Granted to Holkar by Raja Madho Singh; confirmed in sovereignty to Amir Khan by Lord Hastings.

It must, however, be borne in mind, that almost all these alienated districts had but for a comparatively short period formed an integral portion of Dhundhar; and that the major part were portions of the imperial domains, held in jaedad, or ‘assignment,’ by the princes of this country, in their capacity of lieutenants of the emperor. In Raja Prithi Singh’s reign, about half a century ago, the rent-roll of Amber and her tributaries was [434] seventy-seven lakhs: and in a very minute schedule formed in S. 1858 (A.D. 1802), the last year of the reign of Raja Partap Singh, they were estimated at seventy-nine lakhs: an ample revenue, if well administered, for every object. We shall present the chief items which form the budget of ways and means of Amber.