Schedule of the Revenues of Amber for S. 1858, (A.D. 1802-3),
the year of Raja Jagat Singh’s accession.
Khalisa, or Fiscal Land.
   Rupees. 
Managed by the Raja, or rented 2,055,000
Deori taluka, expenses of the queen’s household 500,000 
Shagirdpesha, servants of the household300,000 
Ministers, and civil officers200,000 
Jagirs for the Silahposh, or men-at-arms150,000 
Jagirs to army, namely, ten battalions of infantry with cavalry 714,000 
Total Fiscal Land 3,919,000
  Feudal lands (of Jaipur Proper) 1,700,000
  Udak,[12] or charity lands, chiefly to Brahmans 1,600,000
  Dan and Mapa, or transit and impost duties of the country 190,000
  Kachahri, of the capital, includes town-duties,fines, contributions, etc., etc. 215,000
  Mint 60,000
  Hundi-bara, insurance, and dues on bills of exchange 60,000
  Faujdari, or commandant of Amber (annual fine) 12,000
      Do.            do.       of city Jaipur 8,000
  Bid’at, petty fines from the Kachahri, or hall of justice 16,000
  Sabzimandi, vegetable market 3,000
  Total Lakhs 7,783,000
Tribute { Shaikhavati350,000 
Rajawat and other feudatories of Jaipur[13] 30,000 
Kothris of Haraoti[14] 20,000 
Total Tribute 400,000 
  Add Tribute 400,000
Grand Total Rs. 8,183,000
[435].

If this statement is correct, and we add thereto the Shaikhawat, Rajawat, and Hara tributes, the revenues fiscal, feudal, commercial, and tributary, of Amber, when Jagat Singh came to the throne, would exceed eighty lakhs of rupees, half of which is khalisa, or appertaining to the Raja—nearly twice the personal revenue of any other prince in Rajwara. This sum (forty lakhs) was the estimated amount liable to tribute when the treaty was formed with the British Government, and of which the Raja has to pay eight lakhs annually, and five-sixteenths of all revenue surplus to this amount. The observant reader will not fail to be struck with the vast inequality between the estates of the defenders of the country, and these drones the Brahmans,—a point on which we have elsewhere treated:[15] nor can anything more powerfully mark the utter prostration of intellect of the Kachhwaha princes, than their thus maintaining an indolent and baneful hierarchy, to fatten on the revenues which would support four thousand Kachhwaha cavaliers. With a proper application of her revenues, and princes like Raja Man to lead a brave vassalage, they would have foiled all the efforts of the Mahrattas; but their own follies and vices have been their ruin.

Foreign Army.

—At the period (A.D. 1803) this schedule was formed of the revenues of Amber, she maintained a foreign army of thirteen thousand men, consisting of ten battalions of infantry with guns, a legion of four thousand Nagas, a corps of Aligols[16] for police duties, and one of cavalry, seven hundred strong. With these, the regular contingent of feudal levies, amounting to about four thousand efficient horse, formed a force adequate to repel any insult; but when the kher, or levée en masse, was called out, twenty thousand men, horse and foot, were ready to back the always embodied force.[17]

A detailed schedule of the feudal levies of Amber may diversify the dry details of these annals, obviate repetition, and present a perfect picture of a society of clanships. In this list we shall give precedence to the kothriband, the holders of the twelve great fiefs (barah-kothri) of Amber—

Schedule of the names and appanages of the twelve sons of Raja Prithiraj, whose descendants form the Barah-kothri, or twelve great fiefs of Amber[18] [436].
Sons of Prithiraj.   Names of Families. Names of Fiefs. Present Chiefs. Revenues. Personal Quotas.
1. Chhattarbhuj   Chhattarbhujot Pinar and      
      Bhagru Bagh Singh 18,000 28
2. Kalyan   Kalyanot Lotwara Ganga Singh 25,000 47
3. Nathu   Nathawat Chaumun Kishan Singh 115,000 205
4. Balbhadar   Balbhadarot Achrol Kaim Singh 28,850 57
5. Jagmall his son Khangar } Khangarot Thodri Prithi Singh 25,000 40
6. Sultan   Sultanot Chandsar — — —
7. Pachain   Pachainot Sambra Sali Singh 17,700 32
8.    —   Gugawat Dhuni Rao Chand Singh 70,000 88
9. Kaim   Kumbhani Banskoh Padam Singh 21,535 31
10. Kumbha   Kumbhawat Mahar Rawat Sarup Singh 27,538 45
11. Surat   Sheobaranpota Nindar Rawat Hari Singh 10,000 19
12. Banbir   Banbirpota Balkoh Sarup Singh 19,000 35

It will be remarked that the estates of these, the chief vassals of Amber, are, with the exception of two, far inferior in value to those of the sixteen great chiefs of Mewar, or the eight of Marwar; and a detailed list of all the inferior feudatories of each Kothri, or clan, would show that many of them have estates greater than those of their leaders: for instance, Kishan Singh of Chaumun has upwards of a lakh, while Beri Sal of Samod, the head of the clan (Nathawat), has only forty thousand; again, the chief of Balaheri holds an estate of thirty-five thousand, while that of the head of his clan is but twenty-five thousand. The representative of the Sheobaranpotas has an estate of only ten thousand, while the junior branch of Gura has thirty-six thousand. Again, the chief of the Khangarots has but twenty-five thousand, while no less than three junior branches hold lands to double that amount; and the inferior of the Balbhadarots holds upwards of a lakh, while the superior of Achrol has not a third of this rental. The favour of the prince, the turbulence or talents of individuals, have caused these inequalities; but, however disproportioned the gifts of fortune, the attribute of honour always remains with the lineal descendant and representative of the original fief.

We shall further illustrate this subject of the feudalities of Amber by inserting a general list of all the clans, with the number of subdivisions, the resources of each, and the quotas they ought to furnish. At no remote period this was held to be correct, and will serve to give a good idea of the Kachhwaha aristocracy. It was my [437] intention to have given a detailed account of the subdivisions of each fief, their names, and those of their holders, but on reflection, though they cost some diligence to obtain, they would have little interest for the general reader.

Schedule of the Kachhwaha clans; the number of fiefs or estates in each; their aggregate value, and quotas of horse for each estate.[19]
  Names of Clans. Number of Fiefs in each Clanship or Clan. Aggregate Revenue. Aggregate Quotas.
12[20] alt={ Chhattarbhujot 653,80092
Kalyanot 19245,196422
Nathawat 10220,800371
Balbhadarot 2130,850157
Khangarot 22402,806643
Sultanot ———
Pachainot 324,70045
Gugawat 13167,900278
Kumbhani [or Kumani] 223,78735
Kumbhawat 640,73868
Sheobaranpota 349,50073
Banbirpota 326,575648
4[21] alt={ Rajawat 16198,137392
Naruka[21] 691,06992
Bankawat 434,60053
Puranmallot 134,60019
10[22] alt={ Bhatti 4104,039205
Chauhan 430,50061
Bargujar 632,00058
Chandarawat 114,00021
Sakarwar 24,5008
Gujars 315,30030
Rangras 6291,105549
Khatris 4120,000281
Brahmans 12312,000606
Musalman 9141,400274

Ancient Towns.

—We shall conclude the annals of Amber with the names of a few of the ancient towns, in which research may recover something of past days.

Mora.—Nine coss east of Dausa or Daosa; built by Mordhwaj, a Chauhan Raja.

Abhaner.—Three coss east of Lalsont; very ancient; capital of a Chauhan sovereignty.

Bangarh.—Five coss from Tholai; the ruins of an ancient town and castle in the hills, built by the old princes of Dhundhar, prior to the Kachhwahas.

Amargarh.—Three coss from Kushalgarh; built by the Nagvansa.

Bairat.[23]—Three coss from Basai in Macheri, attributed to the Pandus.

Patan and Ganipur.—Both erected by the ancient Tuar kings of Delhi.

Kharar, or Khandar.—Near Ranthambhor.

Utgir.—On the Chambal.

Amber, or Ambikeswara, a title of Siva, whose symbol is in the centre of a kund or tank in the middle of the old town. The water covers half the lingam; and a prophecy prevails, that when it is entirely submerged the State of Amber will perish! There are inscriptions [439].

1. [The area of the Jaipur State, according to the last surveys, is 15,579 square miles.]

2. [According to the census of 1911, the population of Jaipur State was 2,636,647, 169 per square mile.]

3. [The proportion of Rājputs to the total population was, in 1911, 45 per 1000.]

4. [The present order, in numbers, of the castes is—Brāhmans, Jāts, Mīnas, Chamārs, Banias or Mahājans, Gūjars, Rājputs, Mālis. Dhākar Rājputs are found in the Central Ganges-Jumna Duāb, and in Rohilkhand (Elliot, Supplementary Glossary, 263). There are now 89,000 Dhākars in Rājputāna. Kirār is a term generally applied in the Panjāb to traders to distinguish them from the Banias of Hindustān, and the name has no connexion with the Kirāta, a forest tribe of E. India (Rose, Glossary, ii. 552; Russell, Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces, iii. 485 ff.).]

5. [The Mīnas are a notorious criminal tribe (M. Kennedy, Notes on the Criminal Tribes in the Bombay Presidency, 207 ff.; C. Hervey, Some Records of Crime, i. 328 ff.).]

6. [In 1911 there were 96,242 Kachhwāhas in Rājputāna, of whom about two-thirds are in Jaipur.]

7. [Reference may be made to the artistic industry in brass-work (Hendley, Jaipur Museum Catalogue; Journal Indian Art, 1886, i. No. 12, 1891, i. No. 11).]

8. [Chabūtra, the platform on which the Kotwāl or chief police officer does business. For the cry dohāi see Yule, Hobson-Jobson, 2nd ed. 321.]

9. [The normal revenue is now believed to be about 65 lakhs of rupees, roughly speaking, £433,000 (IGI, xiii. 395).]

10. [This may possibly be Kamban in Bharatpur State.]

11. Kanod was the fief of Amir Singh, Khangarot, one of the twelve great lords of Amber.

12. [Udaka means the rite of offering water to deceased relations; hence, assignments of lands to Brāhmans at such rites (H. T. Colebrooke, Essays on the Religion and Philosophy of the Hindus, ed. 1858, p. 115; Monier-Williams, Brāhmanism and Hinduism, 4th ed. p. 304).]

13. Barwara, Khirni, Sawar, Isarda, etc., etc.

14. Antardah, Balwan, and Indargarh.

15. See Dissertation on the Religious Establishments of Mewār, Vol. II. p. 590.

16. [See pp. 1416, 1422.]

17. [At present the military forces of the State consist of about 5000 infantry, 5000 Nāgas, 700 cavalry, 860 artillery-men, and 100 mounted on camels (IGI, xiii. 397).]

18. [There have been several changes in this list of fiefs since the Author’s time. A later, but apparently inaccurate, list is given in Rājputāna Gazetteer, 1879, ii. 139. An earlier list, made in 1790 by W. Hunter, appears in “A Narrative of a Journey from Agra to Oujein,” Asiatic Researches, vi. 69.]

19. [A fuller and more correct list will be found in Rājputāna Census Report, 1911, i. 255.]

20. The first twelve are the Barah-kothris, or twelve great fiefs of Amber.

21. The next four are of the Kachhwaha stock, but not reckoned amongst the Kothribands.

22. The last ten are foreign chieftains, of various tribes and classes.

No doubt great changes have taken place since this list was formed, especially amongst the mercenary Pattayats, or Jagirdars. The quotas are also irregular, though the qualification of a cavalier in this State is reckoned at five hundred rupees of income.

23. [Forty-two miles N.N.E. of Jaipur city, the ancient Vairāta (IGI, vi. 217; ASR, ii. 242 ff.).]

RAGHUBĪR SINGH, MĀHĀRAO RĀJA OF BŪNDI.
To face page 1441.