Fall of the Mughal Empire v1.c12.s1.8

v1.c12.s1.8

In 1747 an unprecedentedly severe famine raged throughout Rājputānā and Western India. There was an utter failure of the seasonal rains; no crop could grow; the water-courses dried up; not a green blade could be seen anywhere; month after month a dusty haze covered the horizon and never a drop of rain or dew. The cattle perished for want of fodder and men from the dearth of grain. As a Marātha observer wrote, "Men, it seems, cannot get even water for washing their faces. The whole country has been desolated. Even Udaipur is gone; the Mahārānā has decided to vacate his city and go to the bank of the Dhebār lake and live there" [S. P. D. xxi. 19.] Ummed Singh was driven to sell his best elephant to meet his wants. In Gujrāt this famine was popularly known as *Trilotra* (i.e., that of the Vikram year 1803) and the people ate up the seeds of grass and died of flux in consequence; many villages were utterly depopulated and remained untenanted for years afterwards. [*Mirāt-i-Ahmadi*, ii. 364—366. *Vam. Bh.*, 3446—'49.] And yet the Rājputs did not cease their fratricidal contests. Ishwari Singh kept up his army on a war footing on the strength