Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v1.c20.t1.58

v1.c20.t1.58

¹ Such the pride of these small kingdoms in days of yore, and such their resources, till reduced by constant oppression! But their public works speak what they could do, and have done; witness the stupendous work of marble, and its adjacent causeway, which dams the lake of Rajsamand at Kankrauli, and which cost upwards of a million. When the spectator views this expanse of water, this ‘royal sea’ (*rajsamand*) on the borders of the plain; the pillar of victory towering over the plains of Malwa, erected on the summit of Chitor by Rana Mokal; their palaces and temples in this ancient abode; the regal residence erected by the princes when ejected, must fill the observer with astonishment at the resources of the State. They are such as to explain the metaphor of my ancient friend Zalim Singh, who knew better than we the value of this country: “Every pinch of the soil of Mewar contains gold.”