Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c28.s3.t1.84.1

v2.c28.s3.t1.84.1

Cruelty of Rāja Mān Singh.—Six months had thus fled. The fiat of Akhai Chand was supreme; he alone was [156] visible; his orders alone were obeyed. Raja Man was only heard of as an automaton, moving as the Diwan pleased. But while the latter was thus basking in the full sunshine of prosperity, enriching himself and his dependents, execrated by the nobles and envied by his fellow-citizens, they heard of his fall! Then, the insanity of his master proved to be but a cloak to the intensity of his resentment. But a blind revenge would not have satisfied Raja Man. The victims of his deep dissimulation, now in manacles, were indulged with hopes of life, which, with the application of torture, made them reveal the plunder of prince and subject. A schedule of forty lakhs, or £400,000, was given by the Diwan and his dependents, and their accounts being settled in this world, they were summarily dismissed to the other, with every mark of ignominy which could add to the horrors of death. Nagji, the Kiladar,¹ and misleader of the late regent prince, with Mulji Dandal, one of the old allodial stock, had each a cup of poison, and their bodies were thrown over the ‘Gate of Victory’ (Fateh Pol). Jivaraj, a brother of the Dandal, with Biharidas Khichi, and the tailor, had their heads shaved, and their bodies were flung into the cascade beneath. Even the sacred character of “expounder of the Vedas,” and that of “ revealer of the secrets of heaven,” yielded no protection;