Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c27.s7.t2.37

v2.c27.s7.t2.37

The Chief of Rūpnagar.—October 27.—Halted to collect the scattered baggage, and to give the men rest; the day was nearly over before the whole came up, each party bringing lamentable reports of the disastrous descent. I received a visit from the chief of Rupnagar, who, like the Thakur of Ghanerao, owes a divided allegiance to the courts on each side the mountains. His castle, which gives him rank as one of the most conspicuous of the second grade of the Rana’s nobles, was visible from the camp, being placed on the western face of the mountains, and commanding a difficult passage across them. From thence he looks down upon Desuri and his ancient patrimony, now transferred with Godwar to the Rathor prince; and often has he measured his lance with the present occupants to retain his ancient *bhum*, the right derived from the cultivating proprietor of the soil. The chief of Rupnagār is of the Solanki race, a lineal descendant of the sovereigns of Nahrwala, and the inheritor [690] of the war-shell of the celebrated monarch Siddhrai,¹ one of the most powerful who ever sat on an eastern throne, and who occupied that of Anhilwara from A.D. 1094, during half a century, celebrated as a patron of literature and the arts. When in the thirteenth century this State was destroyed, the branches found refuge, as already described, in Mewar; for the ancestor of Rupnagar was brother to the father of "the star of Badnor," and was invested with the estate and lands of Desuri by the same gallant prince who obtained her hand by the recovery of her father's estates. The anecdote is worthy of relation, as showing that the Rajput will stop at nothing "to obtain land." The intestine feuds amongst Rana Raemall's sons, and his constant warfare with the kings of Delhi and Malwa, made his authority very uncertain in Godwar. The Mina and Mer possessed themselves of lands in the plains, and were supported by the Madrecha descendant of the once independent Chauhan sovereigns of Nadol, the ancient capital of this region. Sand, the Madrecha, had obtained possession of Desuri, the garrison town. To expel him, the prince had recourse to Sada, the Solanki, whose son was married to the daughter of the Madrecha. The bribe for the reward of this treachery was to be the grant in perpetuity of Desuri and its lands. Sada's son readily entered into the scheme; and to afford facilities for its execution he went with his wife to reside at Desuri. It was long before an opportunity offered; but at length the marriage of the young Madrecha to the daughter of Sagra the Balecha was communicated to the Solanki by his son; who told his father "to watch the smoke ascending from the tower of Desuri," as the signal for the attempt to get possession. Anxiously did Sand watch from his castle of Sodhgarh the preconcerted sign, and when the volume of black smoke ascended, he rushed down from the Aravalli at the head of his retainers. The mother-in-law of the young Solanki sent to know why he should make a smoke as if he were burning a corpse, when her son must be returning with his bride. Soon she heard the clash of arms; the Solankis had entered and fired the town, and the bridal party appeared before success was attained. Spears and swords were plied. "'Ware the bull!" (sand), said the Madrecha, as he encountered his foe. "My name is the lion (singh) who will [691] devour the bull," replied the Solanki. The contest was fierce, but the Madrechas were slain, and in the morn Prithiraj was put in possession of Desuri. He drew out a grant upon the spot, inserting in it a curse against any of Sesodia blood who might break the bond which had restored the Rathor authority in Godwar. Although seventeen generations have passed since this event, the feud has continued between the descendants of the lion of Sodhgarh and the bull of Desuri, though the object of dissension is alienated from both.