Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c28.84

v2.c28.84

The Exploits of Siāhji.—The first exploit of Siahji was at Kulumad (twenty miles west of the city of Bikaner, not then in existence), the residence of a chieftain of the Solanki tribe. He received the royal emigrants with kindness, and the latter repaid it by the offer of their services to combat his enemy, the Jareja chieftain of Phulra, well known in all the annals of the period, from the Sutlej to the ocean, as Lakha Phulani, the most celebrated riever of Maru, whose castle of Phulra stood amidst the almost inaccessible [13] sandhills of the desert. By this timely succour the Solanki gained a victory over Lakha, but with the loss of Setram and several of his band. In gratitude for this service, the Solanki bestowed upon Siahji his sister in marriage, with an ample dower; and he continued his route by Anhilwara Patan, where he was hospitably entertained by its prince, to the shrine of Dwarka. It was the good fortune of Siahji again to encounter Lakha, whose wandering habits had brought him on a foray into the territory of Anhilwara. Besides the love of glory and the ambition of maintaining the reputation of his race, he had the stimulus of revenge, and that of a brother's blood. He was successful, though he lost a nephew, slaying Lakha in single combat, which magnified his fame in all these regions, of which Phulani was the scourge.