Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c20.s4.23

v1.c20.s4.23

Rāja Mān Singh and Rāna Partāp Singh.—An anecdote illustrative of the settled repugnance of this noble family to sully the purity of its blood may here be related, as its result had a material influence on its subsequent condition. Raja Man, who had succeeded to the throne of Amber, was the most celebrated of his race, and from him may be dated the rise of his country. This prince exemplified the wisdom of that policy which Babur adopted to strengthen his conquest; that of connecting his family by ties of marriage with the Hindus. It has been already related, that Humayun espoused a daughter of Bhagwandas, consequently Raja Man was brother-in-law to Akbar.¹ His courage and talents well seconded this natural advantage, and he became the most conspicuous of all the generals of the empire. To him Akbar was indebted for half his triumphs. The Kachhwaha bards find a delightful theme in recounting his exploits, from the snow-clad Caucasus to the shores of the ‘golden Chersonese.’² Let the eye embrace these extremes of his conquests, Kabul and the Paropanisos of Alexander, and Arakan (a name now well known) on the Indian Ocean; the former reunited, the latter subjugated, to the empire by a Rajput prince and a Rajput army. But Akbar knew the master-key to Hindu feeling, and by his skill overcame prejudices deemed insurmountable, and many are the tales yet told of their blind devotion to their favourite emperor.