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Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1: Volume 1

Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1

Language
English

Contents

Volume 1

Front matter

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The handwritten content appears to be:

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Jols 7/18/68

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e/x/28 2/x/29 daf - 30

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ANNALS AND ANTIQUITIES

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[Figure: COLONEL JAMES TOD. (From the bust by Vo. Livi, 1837. By permission of Lt.-Col. E. W. Blunt-Mackenzie, R.A.)]

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OF RAJASTHAN OR THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN RAJPUT STATES OF INDIA

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BY LIEUT.-COL. JAMES TOD LATE POLITICAL AGENT TO THE WESTERN RAJPUT STATES

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EDITED WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY WILLIAM CROOKE, C.I.E. HON. D.SC. OXON., B.A., F.R.A.I. LATE OF THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE

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IN THREE VOLUMES VOL. I

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HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY

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GEORGE THE FOURTH

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SIRE,

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The gracious permission accorded me, to lay at the foot of the Throne the fruit of my labours, allows me to propitiate Your Majesty’s consideration towards the object of this work, the prosecution of which I have made a paramount duty.

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The Rajput princes, happily rescued, by the triumph of the British arms, from the yoke of lawless oppression, are now the most remote tributaries to Your Majesty’s extensive empire; and their admirer and annalist may, perhaps, be permitted to hope that the sighs of this ancient and interesting race for the restoration of their former independence, which it would suit our wisest policy to grant, may be deemed not undeserving Your Majesty’s regard.

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With entire loyalty and devotion, I subscribe myself,

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YOUR MAJESTY’S

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Most faithful subject and servant,

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JAMES TOD.

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BIRD HURST, CROYDON, June 20, 1829.

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TO

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GEORGE THE FOURTH.

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SIR,

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The following pages are, by the gracious permission of your Majesty, inscribed to your Majesty; and it is the ambition of the author of this work, that the generation to which it is dedicated, may be worthy of the protection of your Majesty.

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The author has endeavoured to present to the public, a faithful view of the state of the empire, and with that view, has combined a sincere and earnest desire to support the constitution, and then administration, of your Majesty's government; and he trusts, that this humble effort to serve the public, will not be found unworthy of your Majesty's royal favour.

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I have the honour to be, Your Majesty's Most faithful and devoted servant,

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A. B. LAMB.

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WILLIAM THE FOURTH

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SIRE,

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YOUR MAJESTY has graciously sanctioned the presentation of the Second Volume of the *Annals of Rajputana* to the Public under the auspices of Your Majesty's name.

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In completing this work, it has been my endeavour to draw a faithful picture of States, the ruling principle of which is the paternity of the Sovereign. That this patriarchal form is the best suited to the genius of the people may be presumed from its durability, which war, famine, and anarchy have failed to destroy. The throne has always been the watchword and rallying-point of the Rajputs. My prayer is, that it may continue so, and that neither the love of conquest, nor false views of policy, may tempt us to subvert the independence of these States, some of which have braved the storms of more than ten centuries.

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It will not, I trust, be deemed presumptuous in the Annalist of these gallant and long-oppressed races thus to solicit for them a full measure of Your Majesty's gracious patronage; in return for which, the Rajputs, making Your Majesty's enemies their own, would glory in assuming the "saffron robe," emblematic of death or victory, under the banner of that chivalry of which Your Majesty is the head.

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That Your Majesty's throne may ever be surrounded by chiefs who will act up to the principles of fealty maintained at all hazards by the Rajput, is the heartfelt aspiration of,

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SIRE,

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YOUR MAJESTY'S

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Devoted subject and servant,

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JAMES TOD.

Preface

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No one can undertake with a light heart the preparation of a new edition of Colonel Tod’s great work, *The Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan*. But the leading part which the Rājputs have taken in the Great War, the summoning of one of their princes to a seat at the Imperial Conference, the certainty that as the result of the present cataclysm they will be entitled to a larger share in the administration of India, have contributed to the desire that this classical account of their history and sociology should be presented in a shape adapted to the use of the modern scholar and student of Indian history and antiquities.

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In the Introduction which follows I have endeavoured to estimate the merits and defects of Colonel Tod’s work. Here it is necessary only to state that though the book has been several times reprinted in India and once in this country, the obvious difficulties of such an undertaking have hitherto prevented any writer better qualified than myself from attempting to prepare an annotated edition. Irrespectively of the fact that this work was published a century ago, when the study of the history, antiquities, sociology, and geography of India had only recently started, the Author’s method led him to formulate theories on a wide range of subjects not directly connected with the Rājputs. In the light of our present knowledge some of these speculations have become obsolete, and it might have been possible, without impairing the value of the work as a Chronicle of the Rājputs, to have discarded from the text and notes much which no longer possesses value. But the work is a classic, and it deserves to be treated as such, and it was decided that any mutilation of the original text and notes would be inconsistent with the object of this series of reprints of classical works on Indian subjects.

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only alternative course was to correct in notes, clearly distinguished from those of the Author, such facts and theories as are no longer accepted by scholars.

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It is needless to say that during the last century much advance has been made in our knowledge of Indian history, antiquities, philology, and sociology. We are now in a position to use improved translations of many authorities which were quoted by the Author from inadequate or incorrect versions. The translation of Ferishta’s History by A. Dow and Jonathan Scott has been superseded by that of General J. Briggs, that of the Āīn-i-Akbarī of F. Gladwin by the version by Professor H. Blochmann and Colonel H. S. Jarrett. For the Memoirs of Jahāngīr, the Author relied on the imperfect version by Major David Price, which has been replaced by a new translation of the text in its more complete form by Messrs. A. Rogers and H. Beveridge. For the Laws of Manu we have the translation by Dr. G. Bühler. The passages in classical literature relating to India have been collected, translated, and annotated by the late Mr. J. W. McCrindle. Much information not available for the Author’s use has been provided by The History of India as told by its own Historians, by Sir H. M. Elliot and Professor J. Dowson, and by Mr. W. Irvine’s translation, with elaborate notes, of N. Manucci’s Storia do Magor. Among original works useful for the present edition the following may be mentioned : J. Grant Duff’s History of the Mahrattas; Dr. Vincent A. Smith’s Early History of India, History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India, and Akbar, the Great Mogul; Professor Jadunath Sarkar’s History of Aurangzib, of which only three volumes have been published; Mr. W. Irvine’s Army of the Indian Moghuls; Sir W. Lee-Warner’s Protected Princes of India.

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Much historical, geographical, and ethnological information has been collected in the new edition of the Imperial Gazetteer of India the Bombay Gazetteer edited by Sir J. M. Campbell, and, more particularly, in the revised Gazetteer of Rajputana, including that of Mewār and the Western States Residency and Bikaner Agency by Lieutenant-Colonel K. D. Erskine, and that of Ajmer by Mr. C. C. Watson. Lieutenant-Colonel Erskine’s work, based on the best local information, has been of special value, and it is much to be regretted that this officer, after serving as Consul-

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General at Baghdad, was invalided and died in England in 1914, leaving that part of the *Gazetteer* dealing with the Eastern States, Jaipur, Kotah, and Būndi, unrevised. For botany, agriculture, and natural productions I have used Sir G. Watt’s *Dictionary of the Economic Products of India*, and his *Commercial Products of India*; for architecture and antiquities, J. Fergusson’s *History of Indian and Eastern Architecture*, edited by Dr. J. Burgess, and *The Cave Temples of India* by the same writers. In ethnology I have consulted the publications of the Ethnological Survey of India, of which Mr. H. A. Rose’s *Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province*, Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam’s account of the Hindus and Khān Bahādur Fazalullah Lutfullah’s of the Musalmāns of Gujarāt, published in the *Bombay Gazetteer*, vol. ix. Parts i. ii., have been specially valuable. Besides the general works to which reference has been made, many articles on Rajputana and the Rājputs will be found in the *Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society* and its Bombay branch, in the *Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal*, and in the *Indian Antiquary*, and other periodicals. The *Reports of the Archaeological Survey of India* conducted by Sir A. Cunningham, Dr. J. Burgess, and Sir J. H. Marshall, are of great importance.

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I cannot pretend to have exhausted the great mass of new information available in the works to which I have referred, and in others named in the Bibliography; and it was not my object to overload the notes which are already voluminous. To the general reader the system of annotation which I have attempted to carry out may appear meticulous; but no other course seemed possible if the work was to be made more useful to the historian and to the scholar. The editor of a work of this class is forced to undertake the somewhat invidious duty of calling attention to oversights or errors either in fact or theory. But this does not detract from the real value of the work. In some cases I have been content with adding a note of interrogation to warn the reader that certain statements must be received with caution. As regards geography, I have in many cases indicated briefly the position of the more important places, so far as they can be traced in the maps with which I was provided. The Author was so intimately acquainted with the ground, that he assumed in the general reader a degree of knowledge which he does not possess.

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The text and notes, with the exception of a few obvious oversights, have been reprinted as they stood in the first edition, and as the latter is often quoted in books of authority, I have added its pagination for facility of reference. It was decided, after much consideration, to correct the transliteration of personal and place names and other vernacular terms according to the system now adopted in official gazetteers, maps, and reports. This change might have been unnecessary if the transliteration of these words, according to the system in use at the time when the book was written, had been uniformly correct. But this is not the case. At the same time I have preserved the original readings of those names which have become established in popular usage, such as “Mogul,” “Mahratta,” “Deccan,” in place of “Mughal,” “Marhāta,” “Dakkhin.” Following the Author’s example, I have not thought it necessary to overload the text by the use of accents and diacritical marks, which are useless to the scholar and only embarrass the general reader. But in the Index I have accentuated the personal and place names so far as I believed I could do so with safety. Some of these I have been unable to trace in later authorities, and I fear that I may have failed to secure complete uniformity of method.

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The scheme of the book, which attempts to give parallel accounts of each State, naturally causes difficulty to the reader. A like embarrassment is felt by any historian who endeavours to combine in a single narrative the fortunes of the Mughal Empire with those of the kingdoms in Bengal, the Deccan, or southern India; by the historian of Greece, where the centre of activity shifts from Athens to Sparta, Thebes, or Macedonia; by the historian of Germany before the minor kingdoms were more or less fully absorbed by the Hohenzollerns. I have endeavoured to assist the reader in dealing with these independent annals by largely extending the original Index, and by the use of page headings and paragraph summaries.

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In the dates recorded in the summaries I have generally followed Lieutenant-Colonel Erskine’s guidance, so far as his work was available. In view of the inconsistencies between some dates in the text and those recorded in the summaries, it must be remembered that it was the Author’s habit in adapting the dates of the Samvat to those of the Christian era, to deduct 56, not 57 from the former, contrary to the practice of modern historians.

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I am indebted to many friends for assistance. Captain C. D. M‘K. Blunt has kindly given me much help in the record of Colonel Tod’s life, and has supplied a photograph of the charming miniature of the Author as a young officer and of a bust which have been reproduced in the frontispieces. Mr. R. E. Enthoven, C.I.E., has given me the photograph of the Author engaged in his studies with his Jain Guru.¹ The fragments of local ballads scattered through the text were unfortunately copied from very incorrect texts. Dr. L. P. Tessitori, an Italian scholar, who, until the outbreak of the War, was engaged in collecting the local ballads of the Rājputs, has giyen a correct version of these ballads; and in improving the text of them I have been assisted by Colonel C. E. Luard, his Pandit, and Sir G. Grierson, K.C.I.E. Since the greater part of the following pages was in type, I have received copies of three reports by Dr. L. P. Tessitori, “A Scheme for the Bardic and Historical Survey of Rājputāna,” and two Progress Reports for the years 1915 and 1916, published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (New Series, vol. x. No. 10; xii. No. 3; xiii. No. 4). These contain information regarding the MSS. copies of some ballads and inscriptions, which throw light on the traditions and antiquities of the Rājputs. I regret that I was unable to use these papers, which, however, do not supply much information on questions connected with The Annals. Among other friends who have helped me in various ways I may name the late Sir G. Birdwood; Mr. W. Foster, C.I.E.; Professor A. Keith, F.R.S.; Lieutenant-Colonel Sir D. Prain, F.R.S.; and Dr. Vincent A. Smith, C.I.E.

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¹ This picture, supposed to be the work of Ghāsī, the Author’s artist, was recently discovered in Rājputāna.

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W. CROOKE.

Contents

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| | PAGE |
| PREFACE BY THE EDITOR | ix |
| INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR | xxv |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY | xlvii |
| AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION | lv |

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BOOK I

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GEOGRAPHY OF RAJASTHAN OR RAJPUTANA

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BOOK II

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HISTORY OF THE RAJPUT TRIBES

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CHAPTER 1

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Genealogies of the Rajput princes—The Puranas—Connexion of the Rajputs with the Scythic tribes . . . 23

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CHAPTER 2

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Genealogies continued—Fictions in the Puranas—Union of the regal and the priestly characters—Legends of the Puranas confirmed by the Greek historians . . . 29

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CHAPTER 3

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Genealogies continued—Comparisons between the lists of Sir W. Jones, Mr. Bentley, Captain Wilford, and the Author—Synchronisms . . . 39

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CHAPTER 4

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Foundations of States and Cities by the different tribes . . 45

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CHAPTER 5

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The dynasties which succeeded Rama and Krishna—The Pandava family—Periods of the different dynasties . . 55

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CHAPTER 6

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Genealogical history of the Rajput tribes subsequent to Vikramaditya—Foreign races which entered India—Analogies between the Scythians, the Rajputs, and the tribes of Scandinavia . . 68

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CHAPTER 7

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Catalogue of the Thirty-six Royal Races . . 97

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CHAPTER 8

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Reflections on the present political state of the Rajput tribes . 145

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BOOK III

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SKETCH OF A FEUDAL SYSTEM IN RAJASTHAN

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CHAPTER 1

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Introduction—Existing condition of Rajasthan—General resemblance between the ancient systems of Asia and Europe—Noble origin of the Rajput race—Rathors of Marwar—Kachhwahas of Amber—Sesodias of Mewar—Gradation of ranks—Revenues and rights of the Crown—Barar—Khar Lakar . . 153

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CHAPTER 2

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Legislative authority—Rozina—Military service—Inefficiency of this form of government . . . . . . 170

Chapter 3

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Feudal incidents—Duration of grants . . . . 184

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Rakhwali—Servitude—Basai—Gola and Das—Private feuds and composition—Rajput Pardhans or Premiers . . . 203

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Adoption—Reflections upon the subjects treated . . . 220

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APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . 228

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BOOK IV

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ANNALS OF MEWAR

Chapter 1

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Origin of the Guhilot princes of Mewar—Authorities—Kanaksen the founder of the present dynasty—His descent from Rama—He emigrates to Saurashtra—Valabhipura—Its sack and destruction by the Huns or Parthians . . . . . 247

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Birth of Goha—He acquires Idar—Derivation of the term “Guhilot”—Birth of Bappa—Early religion of the Guhilots—Bappa’s history—Oghana Panarwa—Bappa’s initiation into the worship of Siva—He gains possession of Chitor—Remarkable end of Bappa—Four epochs established, from the second to the eleventh century . . . . . 258

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Alleged Persian extraction of the Ranas of Mewar—Authorities for it—Implied descent of the Ranas from a Christian princess of Byzantium—The Author’s reflections upon these points . 271

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Intervening sovereigns between Bappa and Samarsi—Bappa’s descendants—Irruptions of the Arabians into India—Catalogue of Hindu princes who defended Chitor . 281

Chapter 5

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Historical facts furnished by the bard Chand—Anangpal—Prithiraj—Samarsi—Overthrow of the Chauhan monarch by the Tatars—Posterity of Samarsi—Rahap—Changes in the title and the tribe of its prince—Successors of Rahap . 297

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Rana Lakhamsi—Attack on Chitor by Alau-d-din—Treachery of Ala—Ruse of the Chitor chiefs to recover Bhimsi—Devotion of the Rana and his sons—Sack of Chitor by the Tatars—Its destruction—Rana Ajaisi—Hamir—He gains possession of Chitor—Renown and prosperity of Mewar—Khetsi—Lakha 307

Chapter 7

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Delicacy of the Rajputs—The occasion of changing the rule of primogeniture in Mewar—Succession of the infant Mokalji, to the prejudice of Chonda, the rightful heir—Disorders in Mewar through the usurpations of the Rathors—Chonda expels them from Chitor and takes Mandor—Transactions between Mewar and Marwar—Reign of Mokalji—His assassination . 322

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Succession of Kumbha—He defeats and takes prisoner Mahmud of Malwa—Splendour of Kumbha’s reign—Assassinated by his son—The murderer dethroned by Raemall—Mewar invaded by the imperial forces—Raemall’s successes—Feuds of the family—Death of Raemall . 333

Chapter 9

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Accession of Rana Sanga—State of the Muhammadan power—Grandeur of Mewar—Sanga’s victories—Invasions of India—Babur’s invasion—Defeats and kills the King of Delhi—Opposed by Sanga—Battle of Khanua—Defeat of Sanga—His death—Accession of Rana Ratna—His death—Rana Bikramajit—His character—Disgusts his nobles—Chitor invested by the King of Malwa—Storm of Chitor—Sakha or immolation of the females—Fall and plunder of Chitor—Humayun comes to its aid—He restores Chitor to Bikramajit, who is deposed by the nobles—Election of Banbir—Bikramajit assassinated . . . . . 348

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The bastard Banbir rules Mewar—Attempted assassination of the posthumous son of Sanga—Udai Singh’s escape and long concealment—Acknowledged as Rana—The Dauna described—Udai Singh gains Chitor—Deposal of Banbir—Origin of the Bhonslas of Nagpur—Rana Udai Singh—His unworthiness—Humayun expelled the throne of India—Birth of Akbar—Humayun recovers his throne—His death—Accession of Akbar—Characters of Akbar and Udai Singh contrasted—Akbar besieges Chitor, which is abandoned by the Rana—Its defence—Jaimall and Patta—Anecdotes of Rajput females—Sakha or Johar—General assault—Chitor taken—Massacre of the inhabitants—Udai Singh founds the new capital Udaipur—His death . . . . . 367

Chapter 11

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Accession of Partap—The Rajput princes unite with Akbar—Depressed condition of Partap—He prepares for war—Maldeo submits to Akbar—Partap denounces connexion with the Rajput princes—Raja Man of Amber—Prince Salim invades Mewar—Battle of Haldighat—Partap encounters Salim, is wounded, and saved by the Jhala chief—Assisted in his flight by his brother Sakta—Kumbhalmer taken by Akbar—Udaipur occupied by the Moguls—Partap cuts off Farid and his army—Partap’s family saved by the Bhils—The Khankhanan—Aggravated hardships of Partap—He negotiates with Akbar—Prithiraj of Bikaner—The Khushroz described—Partap abandons Mewar—Departure for the Indus—Fidelity of his minister—Returns—Surprises the Moguls—Regains Kumbhalmer and Udaipur—His successes—His sickness and death . . . . . 385 events of this period—Imposition of the Jizya or capitation tax—Alienation of the Rajputs from the empire—Causes—Aurangzeb’s death—Contests for empire—Bahadur Shah, emperor—The Sikhs declare for independence—Triple alliance of the Rajput States of Mewar, Marwar, and Amber—They commence hostilities—Death of the Mogul Bahadur Shah—Elevation of Farrukhsiyar—He marries the daughter of the Prince of Marwar—Origin of the British power in India—The Rana treats with the emperor—The Jats declare their independence—Rana Amra dies—His character . . 456

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Rana Sangram—Dismemberment of the Mogul Empire—Nizamu-l Mulk establishes the Haidarabad State—Murder of the Emperor Farrukhsiyar—Abrogation of the Jizya—Muhammad Shah, Emperor of Delhi—Saadat Khan obtains Oudh—Repeal of the Jizya confirmed—Policy of Mewar—Rana Sangram dies—Anecdotes regarding him—Rana Jagat Singh II. succeeds—Treaty of triple alliance with Marwar and Amber—The Mahrattas invade and gain footing in Malwa and Gujarat—Invasion of Nadir Shah—Sack of Delhi—Condition of Rajputana—Limits of Mewar—Rajput alliances—Bajirao invades Mewar—Obtains a cession of annual tribute—Contest to place Madho Singh on the throne of Amber—Battle of Rajmahall—The Rana defeated—He leagues with Malharrao Holkar—Isari Singh of Amber takes poison—The Rana dies—His character . . 472

Chapter 16

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Rana Partap II.—Rana Raj Singh II.—Rana Arsi—Holkar invades Mewar, and levies contributions—Rebellion to depose the Rana—A Pretender set up by the rebel chiefs—Zalim Singh of Kotah—The Pretender unites with Sindhia—Their combined force attacked by the Rana, who is defeated—Sindhia invades Mewar and besieges Udaipur—Amra Chand made minister by the Rana—His noble conduct—Negotiates with Sindhia, who withdraws—Loss of territory to Mewar—Rebel chiefs return to their allegiance—Province of Godwar lost—Assassination of the Rana—Rana Hamir succeeds—Contentions between the Queen Regent and Amra—His noble conduct, death, and character—Diminution of the Mewar territory . . 496

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Rana Bhim—Feud of Sheogarh—The Rana redeems the alienated lands—Ahalya Bai attacks the Rana’s army—Which is defeated—Chondawat rebellion—Assassination of the Minister Somji—The rebels seize on Chitor—Mahadaji Sindhia called in by the Rana—Invests Chitor—The rebels surrender—Designs of Zalim Singh for power in Mewar—Counteracted by Ambaji, who assumes the title of Subahdar, contested by Lakwa—Effects of these struggles—Zalim obtains Jahazpur—Holkar invades Mewar—Confines the priests of Nathdwara—Heroic conduct of the Chief of Kotharia—Lakwa dies—The Rana seizes the Mahratta leaders—Liberated by Zalim Singh—Holkar returns to Udaipur—Imposes a heavy contribution—Sindhia’s invasion—Reflections on their contest with the British—Ambaji projects the partition of Mewar—Frustrated—Rivalry for Krishna Kunwari, the Princess of Mewar, produces war throughout Rajasthan—Immolation of Krishna—Amir Khan and Ajit Singh—Their villainy—British Embassy to Sindhia’s Court at Udaipur—Ambaji is disgraced, and attempts suicide—Amir Khan and Bapu Sindhia desolate Mewar—The Rana forms a treaty with the British . . . . . . 511

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Overthrow of the predatory system—Alliances with the Rajput States—Envoy appointed to Mewar—Arrives at Udaipur—Reception—Description of the Court—Political geography of Mewar—The Rana—His character—His ministers—Plans—Exiles recalled—Merchants invited—Bhilwara established—Assembly of the nobles—Charter ratified; Resumptions of land; Anecdotes of the Chiefs of Arja, Badnor, Badesar, and Amet—Landed tenures in Mewar—Village rule—Freehold (*bapota*) of Mewar—Bhumia, or allodial vassals : Character and privileges—Great Register of Patents—Traditions exemplifying right in the soil—The Patel; his origin; character—Assessment of land-rents—General results . . . . . . 547

Illustrations

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| Bust of Colonel James Tod | *Frontispiece* |
| | TO FACE PAGE |
| Section of Country | 10 |
| List of Thirty-six Royal Races | 98 |
| Salūmbar | 216 |
| Sanskrit Grant | 232 |
| Palace of Udaipur | 247 |
| Palace of Rāna Bhīm | 312 |
| Ruins of Fortress of Bayāna | 352 |
| Chitor | 382 |
| Rājmahall | 428 |
| Jagmandir | 432 |
| Mahārāja Bhīm Singh | 512 |
| Facsimile of Native Drawing | 572 |

Introduction

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JAMES TOD, the Author of this work, son of James Tod and Mary Heatly, was born at Islington on March 20, 1782. His father, James Tod the first, eldest son of Henry Tod of Bo'ness and Janet Monteath, was born on October 26, 1745. In 1780 he married in New York Mary, daughter of Andrew Heatly, a member of a family originally settled at Mellerston, Co. Berwick, where they had held a landed estate for some four centuries. Andrew Heatly emigrated to Rhode Island, where he died at the age of thirty-six in 1761. He had married Mary, daughter of Sueton Grant, of the family of Gartinbeg, really of Balvaddon, who left Inverness for Newport, Rhode Island, in 1725, and Temperance Talmage or Tollemache, granddaughter of one of the first and principal settlers at Easthampton, Rhode Island. He had been forced to emigrate to America during the Protectorate, owing to his loyalty to King Charles I. James Tod, the first, left America, and in partnership with his brother John, became an indigo-planter at Mirzapur, in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.

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James Tod, the second, was thus through his father and his uncles Patrick and S. Heatly, both members of the Civil Service of the East India Company, closely connected with India, and in 1798, being then sixteen years old, he obtained through the influence of his uncle, Patrick Heatly, a cadetship in the service of the East India Company. On his arrival at Calcutta he was attached to the 2nd European Regiment. In 1800 he was transferred, with the rank of Lieutenant, to the 14th Native Infantry, from which he passed in 1807, with the same rank, to the 25th Native Infantry. In 1805 he was appointed to the command of the escort of his friend Mr. Graeme Mercer, then Government Agent at the Camp of Daulat Rao Sindhia, who had been defeated two years before at the battle of Assaye by Sir Arthur Wellesley. In more than one passage in *The Annals* Tod speaks of Mr. Graeme Mercer with respect and affection, and by him he was introduced to official life and Rājput and Mahratta politics. His tastes for geographical inquiries led him to undertake surveys in Rājputāna and Central India between 1812 and 1817, and he employed several native surveyors to traverse the then little-known region between Central India and the valley of the Indus.

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At this period the Government of India was engaged in a project for suppressing the Pindāris, a body of lawless freebooters, of no single race, the débris of the adventurers who gained power during the decay of the Mughal Empire, and who had not been incorporated in the armies of the local powers which rose from its ruins. In 1817, to effect their suppression, the Governor-General, the Marquess of Hastings, collected the strongest British force which up to that time had been assembled in India. Two armies, acting in co-operation from north and south, converged on the banditti, and met with rapid success. Sindhia, whose power depended on the demoralized condition of Rājputāna, was overawed; Holkar was defeated; the Rāja of Nāgpur was captured; the Mahratta Peshwa became a fugitive; the Pindāris were dispersed. One of their leaders, Amīr Khān, who is frequently mentioned in Tod’s narrative, disbanded his forces, and received as his share of the spoils the Principality of Tonk, still ruled by his descendants.

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In the course of this campaign Tod performed valuable services. At the beginning of the operations he supplied the British Staff with a rough map of the seat of war, and in other ways his local knowledge was utilized by the Generals in charge of the operations. In 1813 he had been promoted to the rank of Captain in command of the escort of the Resident, Mr. Richard Strachey, who nominated him to the post of his Second Assistant. In 1818 he was appointed Political Agent of Western Rājputāna, a post which he held till his retirement in June 1822. The work which he carried out in Rājputāna during this period is fully described in *The Annals* and in his “Personal Narrative.” Owing to Mahratta oppression and the ravages of the Pindāris, the condition of the country, political, social, and economical, was deplorable. To remedy this prevailing anarchy the States were gradually brought under British control, and their relations with the paramount power were embodied in a series of treaties. In this work of reform, reconstruction, and conciliation, Tod played an active part, and the confidence and respect with which he was regarded by the Princes, Chiefs, and peasantry enabled him to interfere with good effect in tribal quarrels, to rearrange the fiefs of the minor Chiefs, and to act as arbitrator between the Rānā of Mewār and his subjects.

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Tod was convinced that the miserable state of the country was chiefly due to the hesitation of the Indian Government in interfering for the re-establishment of order; and on this ground he does not hesitate to condemn the cautious policy of Lord Cornwallis during his second term of office as Governor-General. Few people at the present day would be disposed to defend the policy of non-intervention. "This policy has been condemned by historians and commentators, as well as by statesmen, soldiers, and diplomatists; by Mill and his editor, H. H. Wilson, and by Thornton; by Lord Lake and Sir John Malcolm. The mischief was done and the loss of influence was not regained for a decade. It was not till the conclusion of an expensive and protracted campaign, that the Indian Government was replaced in the position where it had been left by Wellesley. The blame for this weak and unfortunate policy must be divided between Cornwallis and Barlow, between the Court of Directors and the Board of Control." But it was carried out in pursuance of orders from the Home Government. "The Court of Directors for some time past had been alarmed at Lord Wellesley's vigorous foreign policy. Castlereagh at the Board of Control had taken fright, and even Pitt was carried away and committed himself to a hasty opinion that the Governor-General had acted imprudently and illegally."¹

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¹ W. S. Seton Carr, The Marquess Cornwallis, 180, 189 f.

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Tod tells us little of his relations with the Supreme Government during his four years' service as Political Agent. He was notoriously a partisan of the Rājput princes, particularly those of Mewār and Mārwār; he is never tired of abusing the policy of the Emperor Aurangzeb, and, fortunately for the success of his work, Muhammadans form only a slight minority in the population of Rājputāna. This attitude naturally exposed him to criticism. Writing in 1824, Bishop Heber,² while he recognizes that he was held in affection and respect by “ all the upper and middling classes of society,” goes on to say : “ His misfortune was that, in consequence of his favouring the native princes so much, the Government of Calcutta were led to suspect him of corruption, and consequently to narrow his powers and associate other officers with him in his trust till he was disgusted and resigned his place. They are now, I believe, well satisfied that their suspicions were groundless. Captain Todd (sic) is strenuously vindicated from the charge by all the officers with whom I have conversed, and some of whom had abundant means of knowing what the natives themselves thought of him.” The Bishop’s widow, in a later issue of the Diary of her husband, adds that “ she is anxious to remove any unfavourable impressions which may exist on the subject by stating, that she has now the authority of a gentleman, who at the time was a member of the Supreme Council, to say, that no such imputation was ever fixed on Colonel Todd’s (sic) character.”

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² Narrative of a Journey through the Upper Provinces, ed. 1861, ii. 54.

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Whatever may have been the real reason for the premature termination of his official career at the age of forty, ill-health was put forward as the ostensible cause of his retirement. He had served for about twenty-four years in the Indian plains without any leave; he had long suffered from malaria; and, though he hardly suspected it at the time, an attempt had been made by one of his servants to poison him with Datura; he had met with a serious accident when, by chance or design, his elephant-driver dashed his howdah against the gate of Begūn fort in eastern Mewār. In spite of all this, he retained sufficient health to make, on the eve of his departure from India, the extensive tour recorded in his Travels in Western India. Neither on his retirement, nor at any subsequent period, were his services, official and literary, rewarded by any distinction.

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During his seventeen years' service in Central India and Rājputāna he showed indefatigable industry in the collection of the materials which were partially used in his great work. His taste for the study of history and antiquities, ethnology, popular religion, and superstitions was stimulated by the pioneer work of Sir W. Jones and other writers in the Asiatic Researches. He was not a trained philologist, and he gained much of his information from his Guru, the Jain Yati Gyānchandra, and the Brāhman Pandits whom he employed to make inquiries on his behalf. They, too, were not trained scholars in the modern sense of the term, and many of his mistakes are due to his rashness in following their guidance.

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His life was prolonged for thirteen years after he left India. In 1824 he attained the rank of Major, and in 1826 that of Lieutenant-Colonel. Much of his time in England was spent in arranging his materials and compiling the works upon which his reputation depends: *The Annals*, published between 1829 and 1832; and his *Travels in Western India*, published after his death, in 1839. He was in close relations with the Royal Asiatic Society, of which he acted for a time as Librarian. In this fine collection of books and manuscripts he gained much of that discursive learning which appears in *The Annals*. He presented to the Society numerous manuscripts, inscriptions, and coins. The fine series of drawings made to illustrate his works by Captain P. T. Waugh and a native artist named Ghāsi, have recently been rearranged and catalogued in the Library of the Society. They well deserve inspection by any one interested in Indian art. He also made frequent tours on the Continent, and on one occasion visited the great soldier, Count Benoit de Boigne, who died in 1830, leaving a fortune of twenty millions of francs.

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On November 16, 1826, Tod married Julia, daughter of Dr. Henry Clutterbuck, an eminent London surgeon, by whom he had two sons and a daughter. In 1835 he settled in a house in Regent's Park; and on November 17 of the same year he died suddenly while transacting business at the office of his bankers, Messrs. Robarts of Lombard Street. The names of his descendants will appear from the pedigree appended to this Introduction.

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*The Annals of Rajasthan*, the two volumes of which were, by permission, dedicated to Kings George IV. and William IV. respectively, was received with considerable favour. A contemporary critic deals with it in the following terms:¹ "Colonel Tod deserves the praise of a most delightful and industrious collector of materials for history, and his own narrative style in many places displays great freedom, vigour, and perspicuity. Though not always correct, and occasionally stiff and formal, it is not seldom highly animated and picturesque. The faults of his work are inseparable from its nature; it would have been almost impossible to mould up into one continuous history the distinct and separate annals of the various Rajput races. The patience of the reader is thus unavoidably put to a severe trial, in having to reascend to the origin, and again to trace downwards the parallel annals of some new tribe—sometimes interwoven with, sometimes entirely distinct from, those which have gone before. But, on the whole, as no one but Colonel Tod could have gathered the materials for such a work, there are not many who could have used them so well. No candid reader can arise from its perusal without a very high sense of the character of the Author—no scholar, more certainly, without respect for his attainments, and gratitude for the service which he has rendered to a branch of literature, if far from popular, by no means to be estimated, as to its real importance, by the extent to which it may command the favour of an age of duodecimos.”

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¹ *Quarterly Review*, vol. xlviii. Oct.-Dec. 1832, pp. 38 f.

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In estimating the value of the local authorities on which the history is based, Tod reposed undue confidence in the epics and ballads composed by the poet Chānd and other tribal bards. It is believed that more than one of these poems have disappeared since his time, and these materials have been only in part edited and translated. The value to be placed on bardic literature is a question not free from difficulty. “On the faith of ancient songs, the uncertain but the only memorials of barbarism,” says Gibbon, “they [Cassiodorus and Jornandes] deduced the first origin of the Goths.”¹ The poet may occasionally record facts of value, but in his zeal for the honour of the tribe which he represents, he is tempted to exaggerate victories, to minimize defeats. This is a danger to which Indian poets are particularly exposed. Their trade is one of fulsome adulation, and in a state of society like that of the Rājputs, where tribal and personal rivalries flourish, the temptation to give a false colouring to history is great. In fact, bardic literature is often useful, not as evidence of occurrences in antiquity, but as an indication of the habits and beliefs current in the age of the writer. It exhibits the facts, not as they really occurred, but as the writer and his contemporaries supposed that they occurred. The mind of the poet, with all its prejudices, projects itself into the distant past. Good examples of the methods of the bards will appear in the attempt to connect the Rāthors with the dynasty of Kanauj, or to represent the Chauhāns as the founders of an empire in the Deccan.

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¹ Decline and Fall, ed. W. Smith, i. 375.

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Recent investigation has thrown much new light on the origin of the Rājputs. A wide gulf lies between the Vedic Kshatriya and the Rājput of medieval times which it is now impossible to bridge. Some clans, with the help of an accommodating bard, may be able to trace their lineage to the Kshatriyas of Buddhist times, who were recognized as one of the leading elements in Hindu society, and, in their own estimation, stood even higher than the Brāhmans.¹ But it is now certain that the origin of many clans dates from the Saka or Kushān invasion, which began about the middle of the second century B.C., or more certainly, from that of the White Huns who destroyed the Gupta empire about A.D. 480. The Gurjara tribe connected with the latter people adopted Hinduism, and their leaders formed the main stock from which the higher Rājput families sprang. When these new claimants to princely honours accepted the faith and institutions of Brahmanism, the attempt would naturally be made to affiliate themselves to the mythical heroes whose exploits are recorded in the Mahābhārata and Rāmāyana. Hence arose the body of legend recorded in *The Annals* by which a fabulous origin from the Sun or Moon is ascribed to two great Rājput branches, a genealogy claimed by other princely families, like the Incas of Peru or the Mikado of Japan. Or, as in the case of the Rāthors of Mārwār, an equally fabulous story was invented to link them with the royal house of Kanauj, one of the genuine old Hindu ruling families. The same feeling lies at the root of the *Aeneid* of Virgil, the court poet of the new empire. The clan of the emperor Augustus, the Iulii, a patrician family of Alban origin, was represented as the heirs of Iulus, the supposed son of Aeneas and founder of Alba Longa, thus linking the new Augustan house with the heroes of the *Iliad*.

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¹ V. A. Smith, *Early History of India*, 3rd ed. 408; Rhys Davids, *Buddhist India*, 60 f.

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One of the merits of Tod’s work is that, though his knowledge of ethnology was imperfect, and he was unable to reject the local chronicles of the Rājputs, he advocated, in anticipation of the conclusions of later scholars, the so-called “Scythic” origin of the race. To make up for the lack of direct evidence of Scythian manners and sociology to support this position, he was forced to rely on certain superficial resemblances of custom and belief, not between Rājputs, Scythians and Huns, but between Rājputs, Getae or Thracians, or the Germans of Tacitus. In the same way a supposed identity of name led him to identify the Jāts of northern India with the Getae or with the Goths, and finally to bring them with the Jutes into Kent.

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A similar process of groping in semi-darkness induced him to make constant references to serpent worship, which, as Sir E. Tylor remarked, “ years ago fell into the hands of speculative writers who mixed it up with occult philosophies, druidical mysteries, and that portentous nonsense called the ‘Arkite symbolism,’ till now sober students hear the very name of ophiolatry with a shudder.”¹ He repeatedly speaks of a people whom he calls the “Takshaks,” apparently one of the Scythian tribes. There is, however, no reason to believe that serpent worship formed an important element in the beliefs of the Scythians, or to suppose that the cult, as we observe it in India, is of other than indigenous origin.

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¹ Primitive Culture, 2nd ed. ii. 239.

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The more recent views of the origin of the Rājputs may be briefly illustrated in connexion with some of the leading septs. Dr. Vincent A. Smith holds that the term Kshatriya was not an ethnical but an occupational designation. Rājaputra, ‘son of a Rāja,’ seems to have been a name applied to the cadets of ruling houses who, according to the ancient custom of tribal society, were in the habit of seeking their fortunes abroad, winning by some act of valour the hand of the princess whose land they visited, and with it the succession to the kingdom vested in her under the system of Mother Right. Sir James Frazer has described various forms of this mode of succession in the case of the Kings of Rome, Ashanti, Uganda, in certain Greek States, and other places.² Dr. Smith goes on to say: “The term Kshatriya was, I believe, always one of very vague meaning, simply denoting the Hindu ruling classes which did not claim Brahmanical descent. Occasionally a rājā might be a Brahman by caste, but the Brahman’s place at court was that of a minister rather than that of king.”³ This office in Rajputana, as we learn from numerous instances in The Annals, was often taken by members of the Bania or mercantile class, because the Brāhmans of the Desert, by their laxity of

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² Lectures on the Early History of the Kingship, 231 ff.; The Golden Bough, 3rd ed.; The Magic Art, ii. 269 ff.

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³ Early History of India, 408.

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practice, had acquired an equivocal reputation, and were generally illiterate. The Rājput has always, until recent times, favoured the Bhāt or bard more than the Brāhman.

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The group denoted by the name Kshatriya or Rājput thus depended on status rather than on descent, and it was therefore possible for foreigners to be introduced into the tribes without any violation of the prejudices of caste, which was then only partially developed. In later times, under Brāhman guidance, the rules of endogamy, exogamy, and confarreatio have been definitely formulated. But as the power of the priesthood increased, it was necessary to disguise this admission of foreigners under a convenient fiction. Hence arose the legend, told in two different forms in *The Annals*, which describes how, by a solemn act of purification or initiation, under the superintendence of one of the ancient Vedic Rishis or inspired saints, the “ fire-born ” septs were created to help the Brāhmans in repressing Buddhism, Jainism, or other heresies, and in establishing the ancient traditional Hindu social policy, the temporary downfall of which, under the stress of foreign invasions, is carefully concealed in the Hindu sacred literature. This privilege was, we are told, confined to four septs, known as Agnikula, or ‘ fire-born ’—the Pramār, Parihār, Chālukya or Solanki, and the Chauhān. But there is good reason to believe that the Pramār was the only sept which laid claim to this distinction before the time of the poet Chānd, who flourished in the twelfth century of our era.¹ The local tradition in Rājputāna was so vague that in one version of the story Vasistha, in the other Visvāmitra, is said to have been the officiating priest.

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¹ *Journal Royal Asiatic Society*, 1905, 1 ff. The tradition seems to have started earlier in Southern India, S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar, *Ancient India*, 1911, 390 ff.

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In the case of the Sesodias of Mewār, Mr. D. R. Bhandarkar has given reasons to believe that Gehlot or Guhilot means simply ‘ son of Guhila,’ an abbreviation of Guhadatta, the name of its founder.² He is said to have belonged to the Gurjara stock, kinsmen or allies of the Huns who entered India about the sixth century of our era, and founded a kingdom in Rājputāna with its capital at Bhilmāl or Srīmāl, about fifty miles from Mount Ābu, the scene of the regeneration of the Rājputs. This branch, which took the name of Maitrika, is said to be closely connected with the Mer tribe, which gave its name to Merwāra, and is fully described in *The Annals*. The actual conqueror of Chitor, Bāpa or Bappa, is said in inscriptions to have belonged to the branch known as Nāgar, or ‘City’ Brāhmans which has its present headquarters at the town of Vadnagar in the Baroda State. This conversion of a Brāhman into a Rājput is at first sight startling, but the fact implies that the institution of caste, as we observe it, was then only imperfectly established, and there was no difficulty in believing that a Brāhman could be ancestor of a princely house which now claims descent from the Sun. As will appear later on, Bāpa seems to be a historical personage. These facts help us to understand the strange story in *The Annals*, which tells how Gohāditya received inauguration as chief by having his forehead smeared with blood drawn from the finger of a Bhīl, a form of the blood covenant which appears among many savage tribes.¹ In those days no definite line was drawn between the Bhīls, now a wild forest tribe, and the Rājputs. The Bhīls were the free lords of the jungle, original owners of the soil, and though they practised rites and followed customs repulsive to orthodox Hindus, they did not share in the impurity which attached to foul outcastes like the Dom or the Chandāla. As the Bhīls were believed to be autochthonous, and thus understood the methods of controlling or conciliating the local spirits, by this form of inauguration they passed on their knowledge to the Rājputs whom they accepted as their lords. The relations of the Mīnas, another jungle tribe of the same class, with the Kachhwāhas of Jaipur were of the same kind.

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² *Journal Asiatic Society Bengal*, 1909, 167 ff. The criticism by Pandit Mohanlal Vishnulal Pandia (ibid., 1912, 63 ff.) is extremely feeble.

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¹ E. S. Hartland, *Primitive Paternity*, i. 258 ff.

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According to the bardic legend given in *The Annals*, the Rāthors, the second great Rājput clan, owed their origin to a migration of a body of its members to the western Desert when the territory of Kanauj was conquered by Shihābu-d-dīn in A.D. 1193. But it is now certain that the ruling dynasty of Kanauj belonged, not to the Rāthor, but to the Gaharwār clan, and that the first Rāthor settlement in Rājputāna must have occurred anterior to the conquest of Kanauj by the Musalmāns. An inscription, dated A.D. 997, found in the ruins of the ancient town of Hathūndi or Hastikūndi in the Bali Hakūmat of the Jodhpur State, names four Rāthor Rājas who reigned there in the tenth century.¹ The local legend is an attempt to connect the line of Rāthor princes with the Kanauj dynasty. It has been suggested that the Deccan dynasty of the Rāshtrakūtas which, in name at least, is identical with Rāthor, reigning at Nāsik or Malkhed from A.D. 753 to 973, was connected with the Reddis or Raddis, a caste of cultivators which seem to have migrated from Madras into the Deccan at an early period. But any racial connexion between the Deccan Reddis and the Rāthors of Rājputāna is very doubtful.²

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¹ K. D. Erskine, *Gazetteer Western Rajput States and Bikaner Agency*, A. i. 177.

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² *Bombay Gazetteer*, I. Part i. 385; *Bombay Census Report*, 1911, i. 279; Smith, *Early History*, 413.

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The Chandel clan, ranked in *The Annals* among the Thirty-six Royal Races, is believed to be closely connected with the Bhars and Gonds, forest tribes of Bundelkhand and the Central Provinces. Mr. R. V. Russell prefers to connect them with the Bhars alone, on the ground that the Gonds, according to the best traditions, entered the Central Provinces from the south, and made no effective settlement in Bundelkhand, the headquarters of the Chandels.³ But there was a Gond settlement in the Hamīrpur District of Bundelkhand, and the close connexion between the Gonds and the Chandels began in what is now the Chhatarpur State.

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³ *Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces*, iv. 441.

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The results of recent investigations into Rājput ethnology are thus of great importance, and enable us to correct the bardic legends on which the genealogies recorded in *The Annals* were founded. Much remains to be done before the question can be finally settled. The local Rājput traditions and the ballads of the bards must be collected and edited; the ancient sites in Rājputāna must be excavated; physical measurements, now somewhat discredited as a test of racial affinities, must be made in larger numbers and by more scientific methods. But the general thesis that some of the nobler Rājput septs are descended from Gurjaras or other foreigners, while others are closely connected with the autochthonous races, may be regarded as definitely proved.

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