Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c40.85

v3.c40.85

Chief Towns.—The principal towns in the Chauhan *raj* are Suigam, Dharanidhar,¹ Bakhasar, Tharad, Hotiganv, and Chitalwana. Rana Narayan Rao resides alternately at Sui and Bah, both large towns surrounded by an *abbatis*, chiefly of the *babul* and other thorny trees, called in these regions *kantha-ka-kot*, which has given these simple, but very [306] efficient fortifications the term of *kantha-ka-kot*, or ‘fort of thorns.’ The resources of Narayan Rao, derived from this desert domain, are said to be three lakhs of rupees, of which he pays a triennial tribute of one lakh to Jodhpur, to which no right exists, and which is rarely realized without an army. The tracts watered by the Luni yield good crops of the richer grains; and although, in the dry season, there is no constant stream, plenty of sweet water is procured by excavating wells in its bed. But it is asserted that, even when not continuous, a gentle current is perceptible in those detached portions or pools, filtrating under the porous sand: a phenomenon remarked in the bed of the Kunwari River (in the district of Gwalior), where, after a perfectly dry space of several miles, we have observed in the next portion of water a very perceptible current.¹