Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c20.s3.201

v1.c20.s3.201

¹ Many romantic tales are founded on ‘the gift of the Rakhi.’ The author, who was placed in the enviable situation of being able to do good, and on the most extensive scale, was the means of restoring many of these ancient families from degradation to affluence. The greatest reward he could, and the only one he would, receive, was the courteous civility displayed in many of these interesting customs. He was the Rakhi-band Bhai of, and received ‘the bracelet’ from, three queens of Udaipur, Bundi, and Kotah, besides Chand Bai, the maiden sister of the Rana; as well as many ladies of the chieftains of rank, with whom he interchanged letters. The sole articles of ‘barbaric pearl and gold,’ which he conveyed from a country where he was six years supreme, are these testimonies of friendly regard. Intrinsically of no great value, they were presented and accepted in the ancient spirit, and he retains them with a sentiment the more powerful, because he can no longer render them any service. [The Rākhi (Skt. raksha, ‘protection’) is primarily a protective amulet assumed at the full moon of Sāwan (July-August) (Forbes, Rāsmāla, 609). It was worn on this date to avert the unhealthiness of the rainy season. Jahāngīr and Akbar followed the custom, introduced by their Hindu ladies (Jahangir, Memoirs, 246; Badaoni, op. cit. ii. 269).]