Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c20.s2.t1.122

v1.c20.s2.t1.122

Chitor under a Musalmān Garrison.—“ When Ajmall¹ went another road,” as the bard figuratively describes the demise of Rana Ajaisi, “ the son of Arsi unsheathed the sword, thence never stranger to his hand.” Maldeo remained with the royal garrison at Chitor,² but Hamir [270] desolated their plains, and left to his enemies only the fortified towns which could safely be inhabited. He commanded all who owned his sovereignty either to quit their abodes, and retire with their families to the shelter of the hills on the eastern and western frontiers, or share the fate of the public enemy. The roads were rendered impassable from his parties, who issued from their retreats in the Aravalli, the security of which baffled pursuit. This destructive policy of laying waste the resources of their own country, and from this asylum attacking their foes as opportunity offered, has obtained from the time of Mahmud of Ghazni in the tenth, to Muhammad, the last who merited the name of Emperor of Delhi, in the eighteenth century.