of any of the modern states. The chiefs of Meywar, when they were driven from the plains of Gujarat, settled in the innermost recesses of the Aravalli mountains; they then conquered the Mori chief of Cheetore, and for a thousand years his fortress remained their capital, from which, when they were opposed to the disciplined hosts of the Moghul Empire, they had, after a very hard struggle, extending over many years, to withdraw again into the rugged district in which they founded the new and present capital of Udaipur, the City of the Rising Sun. So also at Jeypore the earliest capitals were Kho and Kuntalgarh, in almost inaccessible hills, then at Amber, still in the hills, and finally at Jeypore in the plains, but even now under the shadow of the mountain range, which is crowned with forts for the protection of the city. Again, the capital of Marwar, when it first became an important state, was at Mundore in the hills, and it was then removed, more space being required, to the plains beyond, though it was there also dominated by a noble fort high up on a grand scarped rock. Without exception the Rajput chiefs, even if their present capital does not stand in the hills, have some inaccessible fastness to which they can retire, as well as some game preserve in the hills close by. The homes of the nobles are similarly situated, and if there are no mountains there are wide extents of sand which serve a similar purpose, or, as at Kotah, a broad river which admits of easy defence of the place. Of course in process of time it became no longer so easy to provide for those who separated from the parent stem, so that they had to be satisfied with less typical sites, but the traveller will be surprised to find in Rajputana how few are the villages of the nobles which have not close by some stronghold, which is built on a rock or near some low hills, or some woodland out of which to make a game preserve. Villages in the open owned for their lord him who had the longest arm, and when the inhabitants were in danger or were oppressed they withdrew to his fort for shelter. Tod refers to seeing near Reah in Marwar the cenotaph of the Thakur of that place, who fell in 1749 in defending the town walls against the Mhairs, having first put to death his wife in order to save his honour, and he adds that "there was scarcely a family on either side of the Aravallis whose estates lay near them which had not cenotaphs bearing similar inscriptions, recording the desperate raids of the mountaineers; and it may be asserted that one of the greatest benefits we conferred on Rajputana was the conversion of the numerous banditti . . into peaceful tax-paying subjects. We have now, moreover, metamorphosised several corps of them, from breakers, into keepers of the peace." The work of building strong forts and town walls was much facilitated by the abundance of excellent building materials. In North India, below the Himalayas, Rajputana alone fulfilled the important conditions which I have named. These are found, however, in other parts of the Peninsula, and in such situations the Rajputs, or the people who resembled them, also established themselves; thus, for example, in the neighbourhood of Rotasgarh, on the Soane river in Bengal, and in the adjoining hill states of Chota Nagpur, there are many petty chiefs, who assert their descent from the genuine Rajput stock, though it is no doubt very much diluted by admixture with inferior aboriginal blood. The great Mahratta Chief, Sivaji, and the Rulers of Nepal also claim Rajput origin, and that from the noblest stock, none other than the royal house of Udaipur. The rule is almost universal, though it is true that in early times, when they became paramount, the great chiefs of India, from whom the present rulers believe they are descended; even the deified king Rama himself; and the lords of Balabhi and Kanauj, respectively the reputed ancestors of the chiefs of Jaipur, Udaipur and Marwar, lived in the plains, but they did not thoroughly establish themselves there. Thanks to their possession of Chitor, the famous rock fortress, and of the hill countries near it, the chiefs of Meywar after Rana Hamir were paramount for more than two hundred years in Rajputana, notwithstanding that they had against them the power of the great sovereigns of Delhi. I will now quote at length from one of the appendices to the famous Rajasthan, or "History of the Rajputs," a remonstrance which was addressed to Colonel James Tod, its author, when he was Political Agent in Meywar, by the Subvassals of Deogarh, because it is most typical of the ideas of the Rajputs as regards their duties to their liege lord, and still more so of his obligations to them, and then I propose to give some illustrations of the peculiar qualities of the race, qualities both good and bad, to which, in my opinion, they owe not only their successes, but their failures. Remonstrance of the Sub-vassals of Deogarh against their chief, Rawat Gokal Singh. (Appendix, Tod's Rajasthan.) 1. He respects not the privileges or customs established of old. 2. To each Rajput's house a Charsa or hide of land was attached; this he has resumed. 3. Whoever bribes him is a true man, who does not is a thief. 4. Ten or twelve villages established by his vassals he has resumed and left their families to starve. 5. From time immemorial sanctuary has been esteemed sacred; this he has abolished. 6. On emergencies he would pledge his oath to his subjects, and afterwards plunder them. 7. In old times, it was customary when the presence of his chiefs and kindred was required, to invite them by letter; a fine is now the warrant of summons, thus lessening their dignity. 8. Such messengers in former times had a takka (a copper coin) for their ration, now he imposes two rupees (64 times as much). 9. Formerly when robberies occurred in the mountains within the limits of Deogarh, the loss was made good; now all complaint is useless, for his faujdar (military commander) receives a fourth of all such plunder. The Mers range at liberty; but before they never committed murder, they slay as well as rob our kin, nor is there any redress, and such plunder is even sold within the town of Deogarh. 10. Without crime, he resumes the land of his vassals for the sake of imposition of fines, and after such are paid, he cuts down the green crops, with which he feeds his horses. 11. The cultivators on the lands of the vassals he seizes by force, extorts fines, or sells their cattle to pay them. Thus cultivation is ruined, and the inhabitants leave the country. 12. From oppression the town magistrates of Deogarh have fled to Raipur. He lays in watch to seize and extort money from them. 13. When be summons his vassals for purposes of extortion and they escape his clutches, he seizes on their wives and families. Females, from a sense of honour, have on such occasions thrown themselves into wells. 14. He interferes to recover old debts, distraining the debtor of all he has in the world; half he receives. 15. If any man have a good horse, by fair means or foul he contrives to get it. 16. When Deogarh was established, at the same time were our allotments; as is his patrimony, so is our patrimony. Thousands of rupees have been expended in establishing them and improving them, yet our rank, privileges, and rights he equally disregards. 17. From these villages, founded by our forefathers, he at times will take four or five skins of land, and bestow them on foreigners; and thus the ancient proprietors are reduced to poverty and ruin. 18. From of old all his Rajput kin had daily rations of grain; for four years these rights have been abolished. 19. From ancient times the vassals formed his council: now he consults only foreigners. What has been the consequence? The whole annual revenue derived from the mountains is lost. 20. From the ancient allotment of the brotherhood the mountaineers carry off the cattle, and instead of redeeming them, this faujdar (of lies) sets the plunderers up to the trick of demanding blackmail. 21. Money is justice and there is none other: whoever has money may be heard. The bankers and merchants have gone abroad for protection, but he asks not where they are. 22. Refers to their being fined when they attempt to do themselves justice, and recover their cattle when they have been driven to the hills, thereby leading to loss of dignity; to failure to investigate feuds, whereby the Rajput is obliged to abandon his patrimony, there being neither protection nor support. They add that the chief is so supine and so regardless of honour, that he tells us to take money to the hills and redeem our property; foreigners are all in all, and the home-bred is set aside. Dekhanis (Southerners) and plunderers enjoy the lands of his brethren. Justice there is none. Our rights and privileges in his family are the same as his in the family of the Presence (the Maharana). What crimes have we committed, that at this day we should lose our lands! We are in great trouble. The recital of the wrongs of those poor people seems like reproducing a page out of ancient Semitic history. The courage of the Rajputs, whether it is considered under its personal or its tribal and collective aspects, during the period of their greatness, was undoubted. Where every page of their history seems full of instances of both kinds of courage it is difficult to quote special cases. The most powerful incentives to bravery amongst them are perhaps pride of race and devotion to the immediate tribal lord rather than love of country. The ordinary Rajput thinks it quite sufficient to introduce himself by saying, "I am a Rajput," the son of a king, and the proudest boast of his wife is to be the mother of a Rajput. Many a man of this race has been encouraged by his women to return again and again to fight the enemy and to perform the most heroic deeds. Even their taunts were not wanting, though these were rarely needed. The Emperor Akbar caused effigies to be put up of Patta Singh and Jai Mal, one of them a mere lad of sixteen, who both fell fighting on the slopes of Chitor, before his own palace, figures which are in existence to this day, as a testimony to his admiration for their valour. We are told that the mother and bride of Patta Singh accompanied him, and that both fell fighting near the spot. I have myself seen the monument erected to his memory, and from the tower of Victory of Kumbhu Rana which crowns that noble hill of Chitor, have heard the representative of his name and honours speak with pride of his forefather's bravery and patriotism, both of which it was easy to see he would willingly emulate. Where every local history teems with instances of personal courage of both sexes, and it is almost impossible to find a coward, it would be invidious to quote more examples, I shall, therefore, go on to the collective bravery of the race, which has been the subject of comment of all historians. When the Rajput finds his case hopeless, he assumes saffron coloured robes, and putting to death the females of all ages, rushes headlong into the ranks of the enemy, and committing terrible havoc, there finds the death which he seeks. No fewer than three times was this awful sacrifice made in the history of Meywar, when, headed by the highest of the queens, the wives and daughters of all the nobles and the remaining females of the clan went down into the caverns on the side of the mountain, and there were suffocated or burned; for if this had not been done, they would have become the lawful prey of the captors, as was the case with the Jews of old and the nations with whom they fought. In a beautiful valley cleft in the hill I was shown the sacred spot where is the entrance to the cavern in which the last and, perhaps, all of these fearful sacrifices took place. In front of it is a sacred fountain, and around it are grouped some small temples in which the manes of the dead are propitiated, and where the Rajputs pray for courage to imitate the example set by their illustrious ancestors, to which indeed they need but little incentive, the flames being abundantly fed by their bards and historians from their earliest days. Nor indeed are the women less backward than the men in all that is chivalrous. Taught from their infancy that pious wives should accompany their husbands to the realms of the dead, they arm their sons for battle, and follow their lords, in many cases, as the annals testify, most gladly, to the funeral pyre. Nor is this surprising, because the lot of a widow is by no means a pleasant one, as custom prescribes many hardships that she must go through if |