Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c28.216

v2.c28.216

Rāja Gaj Singh, A.D. 1620–38.—Raja Gaj, who succeeded his father in A.D. 1620, was born at Lahore, and the tika of investiture found him in the royal camp at Burhanpur. The bearer of it was Darab Khan, the son of the Khankhanan,¹ or premier noble of the emperor’s court, who, as the imperial proxy, girt Raja Gaj with the sword. Besides the “nine castles” (Naukoti Marwar), his patrimony, his patent contained a grant of “seven divisions” of Gujarat, of the district of Jhalai in Dhundhar; and what was of more consequence to him, though of less intrinsic value, that of Masuda in Ajmer, the heirloom of his house. Besides these marks of distinction, he received the highest proof of confidence in the elevated post of viceroy of the Deccan; and, as a special testimony of imperial favour, the Rathor cavaliers composing his contingent were exempted from the dagh,² that is, having their steeds branded with the imperial signet. His elder son, Amra Singh, served with [42] his father in all his various battles, to the success of which his conspicuous gallantry on every occasion contributed. In the sieges and battles of Kirkigarh, Golkonda, Khelna, Parnala, Gajangarh, Asir and Satara, the Rathors had their full share of glory, which obtained for their leader the title of Dalthaman, or ‘barrier of the host.’ We have already¹ remarked the direct influence which the Rajput princes had in the succession to the imperial dignity, consequent upon the intermarriage of their daughters with the crown, and the various interests arising therefrom. Sultan Parvez, the elder son and heir of Jahangir, was the issue of a princess of Marwar,² while the second son, Khurram, as his name imports, was the son of a Kachhwaha³ princess of Amber. Being the offspring of polygamy and variously educated, these princes were little disposed to consider consanguinity as a bond of natural union; and their respective mothers, with all the ambition of their race, thought of nothing but obtaining the diadem for the head of their children. With either of these rival queens, the royal children who were not her own had no affinity with her or hers, and these feelings were imparted from the birth to their issue, and thus it too often happened that the heir of the throne was looked upon with an envious eye, as a bar to be removed at all hazards. This evil almost neutralized the great advantages derived from intermarriage with the indigenous races of India; but it was one which would have ceased with polygamy.