Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c28.143

v2.c28.143

The year of Maldeo’s installation he redeemed the two most important possessions of his house, Nagor and Ajmer. In S. 1596 he captured Jalor, Siwana, and Bhadrajan from the Sandhals; and two years later dispossessed the sons of Bika of supreme power in Bikaner. Mewa, and the tracts on the Luni, the earliest possessions of his house, which had thrown off all dependence, he once more subjugated, and compelled the ancient allodial tenantry to hold of him in chief, and serve with their quotas. He engaged in war with the Bhattis, and conquered Bikampur, where a branch of his family remained, and are now incorporated with the Jaisalmer State, and, under the name of Maldots,² have the credit of being the most daring robbers of the desert. He even established branches of his family in Mewar and Dhundhar, took, and fortified Chatsu, not twenty miles south of the capital of the Kachhwahas. He captured and restored Sirohi from the Deoras, from which house was his mother. But Maldeo not only acquired, but determined to retain, his conquests, and erected numerous fortifications throughout the country. He enclosed the city of Jodhpur with a strong wall, besides erecting a palace, and adding other works to the fortress. The circumvallations of Merta and its fort, which he called Malkot, cost him £24,000.