Bajrāj, the Horse.

—Bajraj was worthy of such notice and of his name; he was perfection, and so general a favourite that his death was deemed a public misfortune, for he was as well known throughout all these regions as his master. The general yell of sorrow that burst from all my sepoys and establishment on that event, was astounding, and the whole camp attended his obsequies; many were weeping, and when they began to throw the earth upon the fine beast, wrapped up in his body-clothes, his sais (groom) threw himself into his grave, and was quite frantic with grief. I cut some locks off his mane in remembrance of the noblest beast I ever crossed, and in a few days I observed many huge stones near the spot, which before I left Kotah grew into a noble chabutra, or ‘altar’ of hewn stone about twenty feet square and four feet high, on which was placed the effigy of Bajraj large as life, sculptured out of one block of freestone. I was grateful for the attention, but the old regent had caught the infection, and evinced his sense of the worth of Bajraj by a tomb such as his master cannot expect; but in this case perhaps I divided the interest, though there was no prince of Rajwara more proud of his stud than the blind chief of Kotah. From the days of the Pandus to Dewa-Banga of Bundi, many a war has been waged for a horse; nor can we better declare the relative estimation of the noble animal than in the words of that stalwart Hara to the Lodi king: “There are three things you must not ask of a Rajput, his horse, his mistress, or his sword” [767].

In a few days I shall leave the capital for the villa of the Hara Rani, sister of the Kotah prince, and whose bracelet also I have had, the symbol of adoption as her brother. To all their customs, to all their sympathies, and numerous acts of courtesy and kindness, which have made this not a strange land to me, I am about to bid farewell; whether a final one, is written in that book which for wise purposes is sealed to mortal vision; but wherever I go, whatever days I may number, nor place nor time can ever weaken, far less obliterate, the remembrance of the valley of Udaipur.[31]

1. [Sir Henry Durand, then Lieutenant-Governor of the Panjāb, met his death by a similar accident at Tānk in the Dera Ismāīl Khan District, on January 1, 1871.]

2. [Begūn was, by the Author’s intervention, restored to the Rāwat, Maha Singh II., in 1822. A couple of years later, Maha Singh gave up the estate to his son, Kishor Singh, and became a religious mendicant at the shrines of Nāthdwāra and Kānkroli. But when Kishor Singh was, for some unknown reason, murdered in cold blood by a Brāhman in 1839, he resumed the management, and lived till 1860 (Erskine ii. A. 95).]

3. [For a curious sketch of Chitor by a gunner in Aurangzeb’s service, see J. Fryer, New Account of India and Persia, vol. iii. ed. 1915, p. 170.]

4. [See Vol. I. p. 379.]

5. A small tent without (be) a pole (choba).

6. [See the account in ASR, xxiii. (1887) p. 101 ff.; Erskine ii. A. 101 ff.]

7. [The Bīdar subdivision of the Kāyasth, or writer caste, does not appear in recent lists, and this is the only reference to Kāyasths in the “Annals,” their place being usually taken by the Pancholi. A man of the writer caste, Srīpati, is mentioned on the Siwālik pillar at Delhi (IA, xix. 219). The place of Kāyasths in Rājputāna has generally been taken by Banias.]

8. [This, the most ancient chronicle of Mewār, was written in the ninth century, and was recast in the reign of Partāp Singh I. (A.D. 1572-97), and carries the narrative down to the wars of that prince with Akbar, devoting much space to the siege of Chitor by Alāu-d-dīn Khilji (Grierson, Modern Literary Hist. of Hindustan, 1 f.).]

9. [See Vol. I. p. 362.]

10. [Mor, maur, ‘a crown,’ such as that worn by the bridegroom to avert the Evil Eye.]

11. [Tulja (not Tulsi, as in the original text) Bhavāni, a form of the Māta or mother goddess, has her best-known shrine at Tuljapur in the dominions of the Nīzām of Haidarābād (IGI, xxiv. 52).]

12. [This title is not traceable in the dictionaries. The more usual designation is Mir-i-ākhwar or ākhor.]

13. [An inscription on this building shows that it was erected in A.D. 1448 by Bhandāri Bela, son of the treasurer of Rāna Kūmbha, and dedicated to Sāntināth, the 16th Jain Tīrthakara (Erskine ii. A. 102 f.).]

14. [See p. 1640.]

15. [‘The yellow rivulet.’]

16. [This temple, dedicated to Krishna, is known as Kūmbh Syām, Syām being ‘the black’ Krishna. It was built about A.D. 1450 (Erskine ii. A. 103). Also see Fergusson, Hist. Ind. Arch. ed. 1910, ii. 150.]

17. [The chief work of Mīra Bāi is the Rāg Gobind, and a much-admired commentary on the Gīta Govinda of Jayadeva (Grierson, Modern Literary Hist. of Hindūstān, 12).]

18. I trust this may be put to the proof; for I think it will prove to be Takshaknagara, of which I have long been in search, and which gave rise to the suggestion of Herbert that Chitor was Taxila of Porus (the Puar?). [The Author’s suggestion is incorrect. Nagari is one of the most ancient places in Rājputāna, and its original name is said to be Madhyamika. A fragmentary inscription earlier than the Christian era has been found here. There are two Buddhist stūpas and the ruins of a Buddhist building, said to have been used by Akbar to house his elephants, and hence called Hāthi ka Bāra, ‘the elephant enclosure’ (Erskine ii. A. 94).]

19. [For this pillar, known as Kīrtti or Jai Stambha, see Fergusson, Hist. Ind. Arch. ed. 1910, ii. 59 f.; Smith, Hist. Fine Art, 202 f., who calls it “an illustrated dictionary of Hindu mythology.” Garrett found Arabic inscriptions on the third and eighth stories (ASR, xxiii. (1887), 116 f.). For the pillar which the opponent of Rāna Kūmbha erected to commemorate his victory, see BG, i. Part i. 361; for similar pillars erected at Mandasor by Yasodharman in the sixth century A.D., see IA, xv. 253 ff., and compare xvi. 18.]

20. [For the Rāsmandala, or circular dance of Krishna with the Gopis or shepherd girls, see Growse, Mathura, 3rd ed., 61.]

21. [Ardea antigone, the noble crane of N. India.]

22. [Mahmūd Begada, King of Ahmadābād (A.D. 1459-1513). There does not seem to be any corroboration of his capture of Kūmbhalmer (Ferishta iv. 26 ff.). His predecessor, Kutbu-d-dīn, is said to have levied a ransom from the Rāna after an unsuccessful attack by the latter (ibid. iv. 41). For the attack on the fort, about A.D. 1458, by Mahmūd Khilji of Mālwa, see ibid. iv. 208 f.]

23. [This temple, originally erected in the eleventh century, was reconstructed in the reign of Mokal (A.D. 1428-38), and is dedicated to Mahādeo Samiddheswar. It contains a series of relief sculptures, the interpretation of which is still uncertain (Erskine ii. A. 103; Smith, Hist. Fine Art, 203 f., with references to authorities.)]

24. [It was originally a sun-temple (Erskine ii. A. 103).]

25. [This has been so altered, remodelled, and ruined that its original form is unrecognizable (Fergusson, Hist. Ind. Arch. ed. 1910, ii. 170).]

26. [Sunth and Lūnavāda in Rewa Kāntha, Bombay (IGI, xvi. 209 ff.).]

27. [The Jain pillar, known as Khawāsan Stambha, said to mean ‘Grandee’s pillar,’ or Kīrtti Stambha, ‘pillar of victory,’ was built by a Bagherwāl Mahājan, or merchant, named Jīja in the twelfth or thirteenth century A.D., and has recently been repaired by the Government of India. Fergusson (Hist. Ind. Arch. ed. 1910, ii. 59) remarks that the date assigned on the slab mentioned in the text, which is now lost, is much too early. It has been ascribed to Kumārapāla of Gujarāt (A.D. 1143-74). It probably belongs to the thirteenth century, and the nude figures show that it was a Digambara monument, whereas Kumārapāla was a Svetāmbara. The tradition assigning it to Jīja Mahājan may be correct (Erskine ii. A. 104).]

28. [The Cintra orange, Āīn, ii. 124.]

29. [A kind of peas.]

30. Mānukh or mānushya is the diminutive of man. [Prithināth, ‘lord of the earth,’ a title of the Rāna.]

31. By a singular coincidence, the day on which I closed these wanderings is the same on which I have put the last stroke to a work that has afforded me some pleasure and much pain. It was on March 8, 1822, I ended my journey and entered Udaipur: on March 8, 1832, I am transcribing this last page of my journal: in March my book appears before the public: I was born in March; embarked for India in March; and had the last glimpse of its land, the coast of Ceylon, in March. But what changes has not the ever-revolving wheel produced since that time! Captain Waugh returned to England about six months after me; his health much shattered. We met, and lived together, in London, in Belgium, and in France; but amidst all the beauties of novelty, Rajputana was the theme to which we constantly reverted. He returned to India, had just obtained his majority, and was marching in command of his regiment, the 10th Light Cavalry, from Muttra to Mhow, when, in passing through the land where we had seen many happy days together, he was invited by the chief of Duni to renew old recollections by a visit. Though in the highest spirits, my poor cousin went with a presentiment of evil. He was accompanied by some of his officers. In ascending the hill he fell, and sustained an injury which rendered an operation necessary. This succeeded so well, that in two days he proceeded in a litter; when, on arriving at the ground, his friends drew the curtain of his duli, and found him dead! His ashes repose in Mewar, under a monument raised by his brother officers. He did not live to see the completion of these labours, which none but he could fully appreciate. No man was ever more beloved in private life; and the eulogium passed upon him, but two days ago, by his old friend and commander, the gallant General Sir Thomas Brown—“He was one of the best cavalry officers who ever served under me,”—is an honourable testimony to his public career. No apology is required for this record of the talent and worth of one who, in addition to the ties of kindred, was linked to me by the bonds of friendship during twenty years.—March 8, 1832 [768-769].