Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c20.s7.7

v1.c20.s7.7

The Jaisamund Lake.—But all other protection than what his sword afforded was futile; and though Dilir’s intentions were noble, he had little control over events: in less than five years after his accession, the Rana was again forced to fly the plains for the inaccessible haunts of Kamori. Yet, in spite of these untoward circumstances and uninterrupted warfare, such were the resources of this little State that the Rana completed a work which perpetuates his name. He threw a dam across a break in the mountains, the channel of an ever-flowing stream, by which he formed the largest lake in India,¹ giving it his own name, the Jaisamund, or sea of victory. Nature had furnished the hint for this undertaking, for there had always existed a considerable volume of water; but the Rana had the merit of uniting these natural buttresses, and creating a little sea from the Dhebar pool, its ancient appellation. The circumference cannot be less than thirty miles, and the benefits to cultivation, especially in respect to the article of rice, which requires perpetual irrigation, were great. On this huge rampart he erected a palace for his favourite queen, Komaladevi, a princess of the Pramara race, familiarly known as the Ruthi Rani, or ‘testy queen.’