Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c42.s2: Kotah
Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c42.s2
- Language
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Contents
- v3.c42.s2.t1 Chapter 6 — 268 parts
Kotah
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Formation of Kotah State.—The early history of the Haras of Kotah belongs to Bundi, of which they were a junior branch. The separation took place when Shah Jahan was emperor of India, who bestowed Kotah and its dependencies on Madho Singh, the second son of Rao Ratan, for his distinguished gallantry in the battle of Burhanpur.¹
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¹ [See Elliot-Dowson vi. 395, 418.]
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Rāo Mādho Singh, *c.* A.D. 1625-30.—Madho Singh was born in S. 1621 (A.D. 1565). At the early age of fourteen, he displayed that daring intrepidity which gave him the title of Raja, and Kotah with its three hundred and sixty townships (then the chief fief of Bundi, and yielding two lakhs of rent), independent of his father.
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It has already been related, that the conquest of this tract was made from the Khota Bhils of the Ujla, the ‘unmixed,’ or aboriginal race. From these the Rajput will eat, and all classes will ‘drink water’ at their hands.² Kotah was at that time but a series of hamlets, the abode of the Bhil chief, styled Raja, being the ancient fortress of Ekelgarh, five coss south of Kotah. But when Madho Singh was enfeoffed by the king, Kotah had already attained extensive limits. To the south it was bounded by Gagraun and Ghatoli, then held by the Khichis; on the east, by Mangrol and [506] Nahargarh, the first belonging to the Gaur, the last to a Rathor Rajput, who had apostatized to save his land and was now a Nawab; to the north, it extended as far as Sultanpur, on the Chambal, across which was the small domain of Nanta. In this space were contained three hundred and sixty townships, and a rich soil fertilized by numerous large streams.
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² [Rājputs in early days used to intermarry and eat with Bhils, who were regarded, not as a menial tribe, but as lords of the soil (Russell, *Tribes and Castes Central Provinces*, ii. 281).]
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The favour and power Madho Singh enjoyed, enabled him to increase the domain he held direct of the crown, and his authority at his death extended to the barrier between Malwa and Haraoti. Madho Singh died in S. 1687, leaving five sons, whose appanages became the chief fiefs of Kotah. To the holders and their descendants, in order to mark the separation between them and the elder Haras of Bundi, the patronymic of the founder was applied, and the epithet Madhani is sufficiently distinctive whenever two Haras, bearing the same name, appear together. These were—
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1. Mukund Singh, who had Kotah.
2. Mohan Singh, who had Paleta.
3. Jujarh Singh, who had Kotra, and subsequently Ramgarh, Rilawan.
4. Kaniram, who had Koila.¹
5. Kishor Singh who obtained Sangod.
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¹ He held also the districts of Dah and Gura in grant direct of the empire. ² [‘The defile of Mukund,’ also written Mukunddwāra, ‘door or gate of Mukund,’ about 25 miles S. of Kotah city.] ³ [The extra-mural suburb of a fortress (Yule, Hobson-Jobson, 2nd ed. 702).] ⁴ [15th April 1658 (Jadunath Sarkar, Hist. of Aurangzib, ii. 1 ff.).]
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Rāo Mukund Singh, A.D. 1630-57.—Raja Mukund Singh succeeded. To this prince the chief pass in the barrier dividing Malwa from Haraoti owes its name of Mukunddarra ² which gained an unfortunate celebrity on the defeat and flight of the British troops under Brigadier Monson, A.D. 1804. Mukund erected many places of strength and utility ; and the palace and petta ³ of Anta are both attributable to him.
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Raja Mukund gave one of those brilliant instances of Rajput devotion to the principle of legitimate rule, so many of which illustrate his national history. When Aurangzeb formed his parricidal design to dethrone his father Shah Jahan, nearly every Rajput rallied round the throne of the aged monarch ; and the Rathors and the Haras were most conspicuous. The sons of Madho Singh, besides the usual ties of fidelity, forgot not that to Shah Jahan they owed their independence, and they determined to defend him to the death. In S. 1714, in the field near Ujjain, afterwards named by the victor Fatehabad, the five brothers led their vassals, clad in the saffron-stained garment, with the bridal maur (coronet) on their head, denoting death or victory.⁴ The imprudent intrepidity of the Rathor commander denied them the latter, but a [507] glorious death no power could prevent, and all the five brothers fell in one field. The youngest, Kishor Singh, was afterwards dragged from amidst the slain, and, though pierced with wounds, recovered. He was afterwards one of the most conspicuous of the intrepid Rajputs serving in the Deccan, and often attracted notice, especially in the capture of Bijapur. But the imperial princes knew not how to appreciate or to manage such men, who, when united under one who could control them, were irresistible.
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Rāo Jagat Singh, A.D. 1657-70.—Jagat Singh, the son of Mukund, succeeded to the family estates, and to the mansab or dignity of a commander of two thousand, in the imperial army. He continued serving in the Deccan until his death in S. 1726, leaving no issue.
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Rāo Pem Singh, A.D. 1670.—Pem Singh, son of Kaniram of Koila, succeeded; but was so invincibly stupid that the Panch (council of chiefs) set him aside after six months' rule, and sent him back to Koila, which is still held by his descendants.¹
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¹ A descendant of his covered Monson's retreat even before this general reached the Mukunddarra Pass, and fell defending the ford of the Amjar, disdaining to retreat. His simple cenotaph marks the spot where in the gallant old style this chief "spread his carpet" to meet the Deccani host, while a British commander, at the head of a force capable of sweeping one end of India to the other, fled! The Author will say more of this in his Personal Narrative, having visited the spot.
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Rāo Kishor Singh I. A.D. 1670-86.—Kishor Singh, who so miraculously recovered from his wounds, was placed upon the gaddi. When the throne was at length obtained by Aurangzeb, Kishor was again serving in the south, and shedding his own blood, with that of his kinsmen, in its subjugation. He greatly distinguished himself at the siege of Bijapur, and was finally slain at the escalade of Arkatgarh (Arcot), in S. 1742. He was a noble specimen of a Hara; and, it is said, counted fifty wounds on his person. He left three sons, Bishan Singh, Ram Singh, and Harnath Singh. The eldest, Bishan Singh, was deprived of his birthright for refusing to accompany his father to the south; but had the appanage and royal palace of Anta conferred upon him. His issue was as follows: Prithi Singh, chief of Anta, whose son, Ajit Singh, had three sons, Chhattarsal, Guman Singh, and Raj Singh.
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Rāo Rām Singh, A.D. 1686-1707.—Ram Singh, who was with his father when he was killed, succeeded to all his dignities, and was inferior to none in the contests which fill the page of imperial history, and in opposing the rise of the Mahrattas. In the war of succession, he embraced the cause of Prince Azam, the viceroy in the Deccan, against the elder, Muazzam, and was slain in the battle of Jajau, in S. 1764. In this memorable conflict, which decided the succession to the throne, the Kotah prince espoused the opposite cause to [508] the head of his house of Bundi, and Hara met Hara in that desperate encounter, when a cannon-shot terminated the life of Ram Singh in the very zenith of his career.
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Rāo Bhīm Singh, A.D. 1707-20.—Bhim Singh succeeded; and with him Kotah no longer remained a raj of the third order. On the death of Bahadur Shah, and the accession of Farrukhsiyar, Raja Bhim espoused the cause of the Sayyids, when his mansab was increased to “five thousand,” a rank heretofore confined to princes of the blood and rajas of the first class. The elder branch of the Haras maintained its fealty to the throne against these usurping ministers, and thus the breach made at the battle of Jajau was widened by their taking opposite sides. The disgraceful attempt of Raja Bhim on the life of Rao Raja Budh of Bundi has already been recorded. Having completely identified himself with the designs of the Sayyids and Jai Singh of Amber, he aided all the schemes of the latter to annihilate Bundi, an object the more easy of accomplishment since the unmerited and sudden misfortunes of Rao Budh had deprived him of his reason. Raja Bhim obtained the royal sanad or grant for all the lands on the Patar, from Kotah west, to the descent into Ahirwara east; which comprehended much land of the Khichis as well as of Bundi. He thus obtained the celebrated castle of Gagraun, now the strongest in Harāoti, and rendered memorable by its defence against Alau-d-din; likewise Mau Maidana, Shirgarh, Bara, Mangrol, and Barod, all to the eastward of the Chambal, which was formally constituted the western boundary of the State. The aboriginal Bhils of Ujla, or ‘pure’ descent, had recovered much of their ancient inheritance in the intricate tracts on the southern frontier of Haraoti. Of these, Manohar Thana, now the most southern garrison of Kotah, became their chief place, and here dwelt ‘the king of the Bhils,’ Raja Chakarsen, whose person was attended by five hundred horse and eight hundred bowmen, and to whom all the various tribes of Bhils, from Mewar to the extremity of the plateau, owed obedience. This indigenous race, whose simple life secured their preservation amidst all the vicissitudes of fortune, from Raja Bhoj of Dhar to Raja Bhim of Kotah, were dispossessed and hunted down without mercy, and their possessions added to Kotah. On the occasion of the subjugation of Bhilwara, the latter assigned tracts of land to the Umat chiefs of Narsingarh and Rajgarh Patan, with townships in thali, in Kotah proper, and hence arose the claim of Kotah on these independent States for the tribute termed tankhwah.¹ At the same time all the [509] chieftains acknowledged the supremacy of Kotah, under articles of precisely the same nature as those which guaranteed the safety and independence of Rajwara by Britain; with this difference, that the Umats could not be installed without the khilat of recognition of the princes of Kotah. Had Raja Bhim lived, he would further have extended the borders of Haraoti, which were already carried beyond the mountains. Onarsi, Dig, Perawa, and the lands of the Chandarawats, were brought under subjection, but were lost with his death, which, like that of his predecessors, was an untimely sacrifice to duty towards the throne.
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¹ This is one more of the numerous inexplicable claims which the British Government has had to decide upon, since it became the universal arbitrator. Neither party understanding their origin, the difficulty of a just decision must be obvious. This sets it at rest. [Tankhwāh, ‘wages, an assignment of revenue.’ For its technical sense tankhwāh jāgīr see Rogers-Beveridge, Memoirs of Jahāngīr, 74.]
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When the celebrated Kilich Khan,² afterwards better known to history as Nizamu-l-mulk, fled from the court to maintain himself by force of arms in his government of the Deccan, Raja Jai Singh of Amber, as the lieutenant of the king, commanded Bhim Singh of Kotah and Gaj Singh of Narwar to intercept him in his passage. The Nizam was the Pagri badal Bhai, or ‘ turban-exchanged brother,’ of the Hara prince, and he sent him a friendly epistle, entreating him “ not to credit the reports to his disadvantage, telling him that he had abstracted no treasures of the empire, and that Jai Singh was a meddling knave, who desired the destruction of both; and urging him to heed him not, nor offer any molestation to his passage to the south.” The brave Hara replied, that “He knew the line between friendship and duty; he was commanded to intercept him, and had advanced for that purpose; it was the king’s order; fight him he must, and next morning would attack him.” The courtesy of the Rajput, who mingled no resentment with his hostility, but, like a true cavalier, gave due warning of his intention, was not thrown away upon the wily Muslim. The Nizam took post amidst the broken ground of the Sindh, near the town of Kurwai Borasa.¹ There was but one approach to his position without a circuitous march, which suited not the impatient Rajput; and there his antagonist planted a battery, masked by some brushwood. At the *pila badal* (morning-dawn) Raja Bhim, having taken his *amal-pani*, or opium-water, mounted his elephant, and uniting his vassals to those of the Kachhwaha, the combined clans moved on to the attack, in one of those dense masses, with couched lances, whose shock is irresistible. They were within musket-shot of the Nizam; had they reached him, Haidarabad would never have arisen on the ruins of Gualkund,² the ancient Hara abode; but the battery opened, and in an instant the elephants with their riders, Raja Bhim and Raja Gaj, were destroyed. Horse and foot became commingled, happy to emerge from the toils into which the blind confidence of their leaders had carried them; and Kilich Khan pursued the career that destiny had marked out for him [510].
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² [Kamaru-d-dīn, Āsaf Jāh, son of Ghāziu-d-dīn Khān Jang, born 1671, received the title of Chīn Qilich Khān in 1690-91; governor of Morādābād and Mālwa under Farrukhsiyar; gained supreme power in the Deccan in 1720; died May 22, 1748, the present Nizāms of Haidarābād being his successors (Manucci iv. 140 ; Grant Duff, History of the Mahrattas, 190; Elliot-Dowson vii. passim).]
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¹ [On the river Betwa, about 45 miles S.S.W. of Lalitpur.]
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² [See p. 1449.]
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Loss of the Hāra Tribal God.—On this occasion the Haras sustained a double loss: their leader, and their titular divinity, Brajnath, the god of Braj. This palladium of the Haras is a small golden image, which is borne on the saddle-bow of their princely leader in every conflict. When the *gol* is formed and the lances are couched, the signal of onset is the shout of ‘Jai Brajnathji!’ ‘Victory to Brajnath!’ and many a glorious victory and many a glorious death has he witnessed. After being long missing, the representative of the god was recovered and sent to Kotah, to the great joy of every Hara. It was in S. 1776 (A.D. 1720) that Bhim Singh perished, having ruled fifteen years, during which short period he established the affairs of his little dominion on a basis which has never been shaken.
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Rāo Bhīm Singh attacks Būndi.—The rivalry that commenced between the houses, when Hara encountered Hara on the plains of Dholpur, and each princely leader sealed his fidelity to the cause he espoused with his blood, was brought to issue by Raja Bhim, whose attack upon Rao Budh of Bundi, while defending the forlorn Farrukhsiyar, has already been related, though without its consequences. These were fatal to the supremacy of the elder branch; for, taking advantage of his position and the expulsion of Rao Budh, in which he aided, Raja Bhim made an attempt upon Bundi, and despoiled that capital of all the insignia of sovereign rule, its nakkaras, or kettle-drums, with the celebrated ran-sankh, or war-shell, an heirloom descended from the heroes of antiquity. Even the military band, whose various discordant instruments are still in use, may be heard in pseudo concert from the guardroom over the chief gate of the citadel, at Kotah; while the “orange flag,” the gift of Jahangir to Rao Ratan, around which many a brave Hara has breathed his last, is now used by the junior house in all processions or battles.
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To recover these ensigns of fallen dignity, many a stratagem has been tried. False keys of the city gates of Kotah and its citadel had been procured, and its guards won over by bribery to favour admission; but an unceasing vigilance defeated the plan when on the brink of execution: since which the gates of Kotah are always closed at sunset, and never opened even to the prince. This custom has been attended with great inconvenience; of which the following anecdote affords an instance. When Raja Durjan after his defeat reached Kotah at midnight, with a few attendants, he called aloud to the sentinel for admittance; but the orders of the latter were peremptory and allowed of no discretion. The soldier desired the Raja to be gone; upon which, expostulation being vain, he revealed himself as the prince. At this the soldier laughed [511]; but, tired of importunity, bade his sovereign “go to hell,” levelled his match-lock, and refused to call the officer on guard. The prince retired, and passed the night in a temple close at hand. At daybreak the gates were opened, and the soldiers were laughing at their comrade’s story of the night, when the Raja appeared. All were surprised, but most of all the sentinel, who, taking his sword and shield, placed them at his sovereign’s feet, and in a manly but respectful attitude awaited his decision. The prince raised him, and praising his fidelity, bestowed the dress he then wore upon him, besides a gift of money.
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The Hara chronicler states, that Raja Bhim’s person was seamed with scars, and so fastidious was he, through the fear of incurring the imputation of vanity, that he never undressed in presence of his attendants. Nor was it till his death-wound at Kurwai that this singularity was explained, on one of his confidential servants expressing his surprise at the numerous scars; which brought this characteristic reply: “He who is born to govern Haras, and desires to preserve his land, must expect to get these: the proper post for a Rajput prince is ever at the head of his vassals.”
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Raja Bhim was the first prince of Kotah who had the dignity of Panj-hazari, or ‘leader of five thousand,’ conferred upon him. He was likewise the first of his dynasty who bore the title of Maharao, or ‘Great Prince’; a title confirmed though not conferred by the paramount sovereign, but by the head of their own princely tribes, the Rana of Mewar. Previous to Gopinath of Bundi, whose issue are the great feudal chiefs of Haraoti, their titular appellation was Apji, which has the same import as herself (or rather himself), applied to highland chiefs of Scotland; but when Indarsal went to Udaipur, he procured the title of Maharaja for himself and his brothers; since which Apji has been applied to the holders of the secondary fiefs, the Madhani of Kotah. Raja Bhim left three sons, Arjun Singh, Shyam Singh, and Durjansal.
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Mahārāo Arjun Singh, A.D. 1720-24.—Maharao Arjun married the sister of Madho Singh, ancestor of Zalim Singh Jhala; but died without issue, after four years’ rule. On his death, there arose a civil war respecting the succession, in which the vassals were divided. Clan encountered clan in the field of Udaipura, when the fate of Shyam Singh was sealed in his blood. It is said, the survivor would willingly have given up dominion to have restored his brother to life; that he cursed his ambitious rashness, and wept bitterly over the dead body. By these contentions the rich districts of Rampura, Bhanpura, and Kalapet, which [512] the king had taken from the ancient family and bestowed on Raja Bhim, were lost to the Haras, and regained by their ancient possessors.
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Mahārāo Durjansāl, A.D. 1724-56. The Marātha Invasion.—Durjansal assumed ‘the rod’ in S. 1780 (A.D. 1724). His accession was acknowledged by Muhammad Shah, the last of the Timurian kings who deserved the appellation, and at whose court the prince of Kotah received the khilat and obtained the boon of preventing the slaughter of kine in every part of the Jumna frequented by his nation. Durjansal succeeded on the eve of an eventful period in the annals of his country. It was in his reign that the Mahrattas under Bajirao first invaded Hindustan. On this memorable occasion, they passed by the Taraj Pass, and skirting Haraoti on its eastern frontier, performed a service to Durjansal, by attacking and presenting to him the castle of Nahargarh, then held by a Musalman chief. It was in S. 1795¹ (A.D. 1739) that the first connexion between the Haras and the ‘Southrons’ took place; and this service of the Peshwa leader was a return for stores and ammunition necessary for his enterprise. But a few years only elapsed before this friendly act and the good understanding it induced were forgotten.
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¹ In this year, when Bajirao invaded Hindustan, passing through Haraoti, Himmat Singh Jhala was Faujdar of Kotah. In that year Sheo Singh, and in the succeeding the celebrated Zalim Singh, was born.
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Jaipur claims to control Kotah.—We have recorded, in the Annals of Bundi, the attempts of the princes of Amber, who were armed with the power of the monarchy, to reduce the chiefs of Haraoti to the condition of vassals. This policy, originating with Jai Singh, was pursued by his successor, who drove the gallant Budh Singh into exile, to madness and death, though the means by which he effected it ultimately recoiled upon him, to his humiliation and destruction. Having, however, driven Budh Singh from Bundi, and imposed the condition of homage and tribute upon the creature of his installation, he desired to inflict his supremacy on Kotah. In this cause, in S. 1800, he invited the three great Mahratta leaders, with the Jats under Surajmall, when, after a severe conflict at Kotri, the city was invested. During three months, every effort was made, but in vain; and after cutting down the trees and destroying the gardens in the environs, they were compelled to decamp, the leader, Jai Apa Sindhia,² leaving one of his hands, which was carried off by a cannon-shot.
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² [Jai Apa Sindhia succeeded his father, Rānoji Sindhia. His dates are uncertain, but he was probably killed at Nāgor in 1759 (Beale, Dict. Oriental Biography, s.v.; IGI, xii. 421; Grant Duff, Hist. of the Mahrattas, 270).]
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Birth of Zālim Singh.—Durjansal was nobly seconded by the courage and counsel of the Faujdar, or ‘commandant of the garrison,’ Himmat Singh, a Rajput of the Jhala tribe. It was through Himmat Singh that the negotiations were carried on, which added Nahargarh to Kotah; and to him were confided those in which Kotah was compelled to follow the [513] general denationalization, and become subservient to the Mahrattas. Between these two events, S. 1795 and S. 1800, Zālim Singh was born, a name of such celebrity that his biography would embrace all that remains to be told of the history of the Haras.
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When Isari Singh was foiled, the brave Durjansal lent his assistance to replace the exiled Ummeda on the throne which his father had lost. But without Holkar’s aid, this would have been vain; and, in S. 1805 (A.D. 1749), the year of Ummeda’s restoration, Kotah was compelled to become tributary to the Mahrattas.
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Death and Character of Durjansāl.—Durjansal added several places to his dominions. He took Phul-Barod from the Khichis, and attempted the fortress of Gugor, which was bravely defended by Balbhaddar in person, who created a league against the Hara composed of the chiefs of Rampura, Sheopur, and Bundi. The standard of Kotah was preserved from falling into the hands of the Khichis by the gallantry of Ummeda Singh of Bundi. The battle between the rival clans, both of Chauhan blood, was in S. 1810; and in three years more, Durjansal departed this life. He was a valiant prince, and possessed all the qualities of which the Rajput is enamoured; affability, generosity, and bravery. He was devoted to field-sports, especially the royal one of tiger-hunting; and had ramnas or preserves in every corner of his dominions (some of immense extent, with ditches and palisadoes, and sometimes circumvallations), in all of which he erected hunting-seats.
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In these expeditions, which resembled preparations for war, he invariably carried the queens. These Amazonian ladies were taught the use of the matchlock, and being placed upon the terraced roofs of the hunting-seats, sent their shots at the forest-lord, when driven past their stand by the hunters. On one of these occasions the Jhala Faujdar was at the foot of the scaffolding; the tiger, infuriated with the uproar, approached him open-mouthed; but the prince had not yet given the word, and none dared to fire without his signal. The animal eyed his victim, and was on the point of springing, when the Jhala advanced his shield, sprung upon him, and with one blow of his sword laid him dead at his feet. The act was applauded by the prince and his court, and contributed not a little to the character he had already attained.
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COUNTRY SEAT OF THE KOTAH PRINCE.
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Durjansal left no issue. He was married to a daughter of the Rana of Mewar. Being often disappointed, and at length despairing of an heir, about three years before his death, he told the Rani it was time to think of adopting an heir to fill the gaddi, “ for it was evident that the Almighty disapproved of the usurpation which changed the order of succession.” It will be remembered that Bishan Singh, son of Ram Singh [514], was set aside for refusing, in compliance with maternal fears, to accompany his father in the wars of the Deccan. When dispossessed of his birthright, he was established in the fief of Antha on the Chambal.¹ At the death of Durjansal, Ajit Singh, grandson of the disinherited prince, was lord of Antha, but he was in extreme old age. He had three sons, and the eldest, whose name of Chhattarsal revived ancient associations, was formally “ placed in the lap of the Rani Mewari ; the asis (blessing) was given ; he was taught the names of his ancestors (being no longer regarded as the son of Ajit of Antha), Chhattar Singh, son of Durjansal, Bhimsinghgot, Ram Singh, Kishor Singh, etc., etc.,” and so on, to the fountain-head, Dewa Banga, and thence to Manikrae of Ajmer. Though the adoption was proclaimed, and all looked to Chhattarsal as the future lord of the Haras of Kotah, yet on the death of Durjan, the Jhala Faujdar took upon him to make an alteration in this important act, and he had power enough to effect it.
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¹ [Antha is not on the Chambal : it is about 25 miles E. of Kotah city.]
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Mahārāo Ajīt Singh, A.D. 1756-59. Mahārāo Chhattarsāl, A.D. 1759-66.—The old chief of Antha was yet alive, and the Faujdar said, “ It was contrary to nature that the son should rule and the father obey ”; but doubtless other motives mingled with his piety, in which, besides self-interest, may have been a consciousness of the dangers inseparable from a minority. The only difficulty was to obtain the consent of the chief himself, then “ fourscore years and upwards,” to abandon his peaceful castle on the Kali Sind for the cares of government. But the Faujdar prevailed; old Ajit was crowned, and survived his exaltation two years and a half. Ajit left three sons, Chhattarsal, Guman Singh, and Raj Singh. Chhattarsal was proclaimed the Maharao of the Haras. The celebrated Himmat Singh Jhala died before his accession, and his office of Faujdar was conferred upon his nephew, Zalim Singh.
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At this epoch, Madho Singh, who had acceded to the throne of Amber on the suicide of his predecessor, Isari, instead of taking warning by example, prepared to put forth all his strength for the revival of those tributary claims upon the Haras, which had cost his brother his life. The contest was between Rajput and Rajput; the question at issue was supremacy on the one hand, and subserviency on the other, the sole plea for which was that the Kotah contingent had acted under the princes of Amber, when lieutenants of the empire. But the Haras held in utter scorn the attempt to compel this service in their individual capacity, in which they only recognized them as equals.
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Jaipur attacks Kotah.—It was in S. 1817 (A.D. 1761) that the prince of Amber assembled all his clans to force the Haras to acknowledge themselves tributaries. The invasion of the Abdali ¹ [515], which humbled the Mahrattas and put a stop to their pretensions to universal sovereignty, left the Rajputs to themselves. Madho Singh, in his march to Haraoti, assaulted Uniara, and added it to his territory. Thence he proceeded to Lakheri, which he took, driving out the crestfallen Southrons. Emboldened by this success, he crossed at the Pali Ghat, the point of confluence of the Par and the Chambal. The Hara chieftain of Sultanpur, whose duty was the defence of the ford, was taken by surprise; but, like a true Hara, he gathered his kinsmen outside his castle, and gave battle to the host. He made amends for his supineness, and bartered his life for his honour. It was remarked by the invaders, that, as he fell, his clenched hand grasped the earth, which afforded merriment to some, but serious reflection to those who knew the tribe, and who converted it into an omen "that even in death the Hara would cling to his land." The victors, flushed with this fresh success, proceeded through the heart of Kotah until they reached Bhatwara,² where they found five thousand Haras, *ek bap ka beta*, all ‘children of one father,’ drawn up to oppose them. The numerical odds were fearful against Kotah; but the latter were defending their altars and their honour. The battle commenced with a desperate charge of the whole Kachhwaha horse, far more numerous than the brave legion of Kotah; but, too confident of success, they had tired their horses ere they joined. It was met by a dense mass, with perfect coolness, and the Haras remained unbroken by the shock. Fresh numbers came up; the infantry joined the cavalry, and the battle became desperate and bloody. It was at this moment that Zalim Singh made his debut. He was then twenty-one years of age, and had already, as the adopted son of Himmat Singh, “tied his turban on his head,” and succeeded to his post of Faujdar. While the battle was raging, Zalim dismounted, and at the head of his quota, fought on foot, and at the most critical moment obtained the merit of the victory, by the first display of that sagacity for which he has been so remarkable throughout his life [516].
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¹ [Ahmad Shāh Durrāni defeated the Marāthas at Pānipat, 7th January 1761.]
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² [Near Māngrol, about 40 miles N.E. of Kotah city.]
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Malhar Rao Holkar was encamped in their vicinity, with the remnant of his horde, but so crestfallen since the fatal day of Panipat,¹ that he feared to side with either. At this moment young Zalim, mounting his steed, galloped to the Mahratta, and implored him, if he would not fight, to move round and plunder the Jaipur camp: a hint which needed no repetition.
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¹ It is singular enough, that Zalim Singh was born in the year of Nadir Shah’s invasion, and made his political entrée in that of the Abdali.
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The little impression yet made on the Kotah band only required the report that “the camp was assaulted,” to convert the lukewarm courage of their antagonists into panic and flight: “the host of Jaipur fled, while the sword of the Hara performed *tirath* (pilgrimage) in rivers of blood.”
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The chiefs of Macheri, of Isarda, Watka, Barol, Achrol, with all the *ots* and *awats* of Amber, turned their backs on five thousand Haras of Kotah; for the Bundi troops, though assembled, did not join, and lost the golden opportunity to free its Kothris, or fiefs, from the tribute. Many prisoners were taken, and the five-coloured banner of Amber fell into the hands of the Haras, whose bard was not slow to turn the incident to account in the stanza, still repeated whenever he celebrates the victory of Bhatwara, and in which the star (*tara*) of Zalim prevailed:
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Jang Bhatwārā jīt
Tārā Jālim Jhālā.
Ring ek rang chīt,
Chādyo rang pach-rang kē.¹
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¹ [Dr. Tessitori, whose version has been followed, writes: "The second line is quite wrong, and I should not be surprised if it was made up by Col. Tod's Pandit. I believe there was some other word in place of tārā."]
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"In the battle of Bhatwara, the star of Zalim was triumphant. In that field of strife (ringa) but one colour (rang) covered that of the five-coloured (panch-ranga) banner": meaning that the Amber standard was dyed in blood.
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The battle of Bhatwara decided the question of tribute, nor has the Kachhwaha since this day dared to advance the question of supremacy, which, as lieutenant of the empire, he desired to transfer to himself. In derision of this claim, ever since the day of Bhatwara, when the Haras assemble at their Champ de Mars to celebrate the annual military festival, they make a mock castle of Amber, which is demolished amidst shouts of applause.²
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² [See Vols. II. p. 1199, III. p. 1471.]
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Chhattarsal survived his elevation and this success but a few years; and as he died without offspring, he was succeeded by his brother [517].
Chapter 6
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Mahārāo Gumān Singh, A.D. 1766-71.—Guman Singh, in S. 1822 (A.D. 1766), ascended the gaddi of his ancestors. He was in the prime of manhood, full of vigour and intellect, and well calculated to contend with the tempests collecting from the south, ready to pour on the devoted lands of Rajputana. But one short lustrum of rule was all that fate had ordained for him, when he was compelled to resign his rod of power into the hands of an infant. But ere we reach this period, we must retrace our steps, and introduce more prominently the individual whose biography is the future history of this State; for Zalim Singh is Kotah, his name being not only indissolubly linked with hers in every page of her existence, but incorporated with that of every State of Rajputana for more than half a century. He was the *primum mobile* of the region he inhabited, a sphere far too confined for his genius, which required a wider field for its display, and might have controlled the destinies of nations.
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Zālim Singh Jhāla.—Zalim Singh is a Rajput of the Jhala tribe. He was born in S. 1796 (A.D. 1740), an ever memorable epoch (as already observed) in the history of India, when the victorious Nadir Shah led his hordes into her fertile soil, and gave the finishing blow to the dynasty of Timur. But for this event, its existence might have been protracted, though its recovery was hopeless: the principle of decay had been generated by the policy of Aurangzeb. Muhammad Shah was at this time emperor of India,¹ and the valiant Durjansal sat on the throne of Kotah. From this period (A.D. 1740) five princes have passed away and a sixth has been enthroned; and, albeit one of these reigns endured for half a century, Zalim Singh has outlived them all,² and though blind, his [518] moral perceptions are as acute as on the day of Bhatwara. What a chain of events does not this protracted life embrace! An empire then dazzling in glory, and now mouldering in the dust. At its opening, the highest noble of Britain would have stood at a reverential distance from the throne of Timur, in the attitude of a suppliant, and now—
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¹ [The Empire was now breaking up, and his dominions were gradually reduced to the region held by the later Tughlak dynasty.]
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² This was written in A.D. 1821, when Maharao Kishor Singh [died 1828] succeeded.
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None so poor
To do him reverence.
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To do anything like justice to the biography of one who for so long a period was a prominent actor in the scene, is utterly impossible; this consideration, however, need not prevent our attempting a sketch of this consummate politician, who can scarcely find a parallel in the varied page of history.
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The ancestors of Zalim Singh were petty chieftains of Halwad,³ in the district of Jhalawar, a subdivision of the Saurashtra peninsula. Bhao Singh was a younger son of this family, who, with a few adherents, left the paternal roof to seek fortune amongst the numerous conflicting armies that ranged India during the contests for supremacy amongst the sons of Aurangzeb. His son, Madho Singh, came to Kotah when Raja Bhim was in the zenith of his power. Although he had only twenty-five horse in his train, it is a proof of the respectability of the Jhala, that the prince disdained not his alliance, and even married his son, Arjun, to the young adventurer’s sister. Not long after, the estate of Nanta was entailed upon him, with the confidential post of Faujdar, which includes not only the command of the troops, but that of the castle, the residence of the sovereign. This family connexion gave an interest to his authority, and procured him the respectful title of Mama,¹ from the younger branches of the prince’s family, an epithet which habit has continued to his successors, who are always addressed Mama Sahib, ‘ Sir, Uncle !’ Madan Singh succeeded his father in the office of Faujdar. He had two sons, Himmat Singh and Prithi Singh.
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³ [Formerly capital of Dhrāngadhra State in Kāthiāwār (IGI, xiii. 13).]
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¹ Māmā is ‘ maternal uncle ’; Kākā, ‘ paternal uncle.’
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Bhao Singh, left Halwad with twenty-five horse.
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Madho Singh.
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Madan Singh.
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Himmat Singh. | Prithi Singh.
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Sheo Singh, | Zalim Singh, born in S. 1795. | born S. 1796.
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Madho Singh, present regent.
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Bapa Lall, twenty-one years of age [519].
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The office of Faujdar, which, like all those of the east, had become hereditary, was advantageously filled by Himmat Singh, whose bravery and skill were conspicuous on many trying emergencies. He directed, or at least seconded, the defence of Kotah, when first assailed by the combined Mahratta and Jaipur troops, and conducted the treaty which made her tributary to the former, till at length so identified was his influence with that of the Haras, that with their concurrence he restored the ancient line of succession. Though neither the prince, Durjansal, nor his Major Domo, had much merit in this act, it was made available by Zalim Singh in support of his pretensions to power, and in proof of the ingratitude of his sovereign, “ whose ancestors recovered their rights at the instigation of his own.” But Zalim Singh had no occasion to go back to the virtues of his ancestors for an argument on which to base his own claims to authority. He could point to the field of Bhatwara, where his bravery and skill mainly aided to vanquish the enemies of Kotah, and to crush for ever those arrogant pretensions to supremacy which the Jaipur State strained every nerve to establish.
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Zālim Singh retires to Mewār.—It was not long after the accession of Guman Singh to the sceptre of the Haras, that the brave and handsome Major Domo, having dared to cross his master’s path in love, lost his favour, and the office of Faujdar, which he had attained in his twenty-first year. It is probable he evinced little contrition for his offence, for the confiscation of Nanta soon followed. This estate, on the west bank of the Chambal, still enjoyed as a fief in perpetuity by the Jhala family, was the original appanage of the Kotah State when a younger branch of Bundi. From hence may be inferred the consideration in which the Jhala ancestor of our subject was held, which conferred upon him the heirloom of the house. Both the office and the estate thereto attached, thus resumed, were bestowed upon the maternal uncle of the prince, Bhopat Singh, of the Bhangrot tribe. By this step, the door of reconciliation being closed against the young Jhala, he determined to abandon the scene of his disgrace, and court fortune elsewhere. He was not long in determining the path he should pursue : Amber was shut against him, and Marwar held out no field for his ambition. Mewar was at hand, and a chief of his own tribe and nation then ruled the councils of Rana Arsi, who had lately succeeded to power, but a power paralysed by faction and by a pretender to the throne. The Jhala chieftain of Delwara, one of the sixteen great barons of Mewar, had headed the party which placed his sovereign on the throne; and he felt no desire to part with the influence which this service gave him. He entertained [520] foreign guards about the person of his prince, and distributed estates at pleasure among those who supported his measures; while from the crown domain, or from the estates of those who were hostile to his influence, he seized upon lands, which doubled his possessions. Such was the court of Rana Arsi, when the ex-Major Domo of Kotah came to seek a new master. His reputation at once secured him a reception, and his talents for finesse, already developed, made the Rana confide to him the subjection in which he was held by his own vassal-subject. It was then that Zalim, a youth and a stranger, showed that rare union of intrepidity and caution which has made him the wonder of the age. By a most daring plan, which cost the Delwara chief his life, in open day and surrounded by attendants, the Rana was released from this odious tutelage. For this service, the title of Raj Rana¹ and the estate of Chitarkhera on the southern frontier were conferred upon Zalim, who was now a noble of the second rank in Mewar. The rebellion still continued, however, and the pretender and his faction sought the aid of the Mahrattas; but under the vigorous councils of Zalim, seconded by the spirit of the Rana, an army was collected which gave battle to the combined rebels and Mahrattas. The result of this day has already been related.² The Rana was discomfited and lost the flower of his nobles when victory was almost assured to them, and Zalim was left wounded and a prisoner in the field. He fell into the hands of Trimbakrao, the father of the celebrated Ambaji Inglia, and the friendship then formed materially governed the future actions of his life.
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¹ Not Rāna, which he puts upon his seal.
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² See Vol. I. p. 500.
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Zālim Singh returns to Kotah.—The loss of this battle left the Rana and Mewar at the mercy of the conqueror. Udaipur was invested, and capitulated, after a noble defence, upon terms which perpetuated her thraldom. Zalim, too wise to cling to the fortunes of a falling house, instead of returning to Udaipur, bent his steps to Kotah, in company with the Pandit, Lalaji Balal, the faithful partaker of his future fortunes. Zalim foresaw the storm about to spread over Rajwara, and deemed himself equal to guide and avert it from Kotah, while the political levity of Mewar gave him little hopes of success at that court.
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Raja Guman, however, had neither forgotten nor forgiven his competitor, and refused to receive him: but in no wise daunted, he trusted to his address, and thrust himself unbidden on the prince. The moment he chose proved favourable; and he was not only pardoned, but employed [521].
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Gallant Death of Mādho Singh.—The Mahrattas had now reached the southern frontier, and invested the castle of Bakhani,³ which was defended by four hundred Haras of the Sawant clan,¹ under its chief, Madho Singh. The enemy had been foiled in repeated attempts to escalade, and it furnishes a good idea of the inadequate means of the ‘ Southrons ’ for the operations of a siege, when their besieging apparatus was confined to an elephant, whose head was the substitute for a petard, to burst open the gate. Repeated instances, however, prove that this noble animal is fully equal to the task, and would have succeeded on this occasion, had not the intrepidity of the Hara chieftain prompted one of those desperate exploits which fill the pages of their annals. Armed with his dagger, Madho Singh leaped from the walls upon the back of the elephant, stabbed the rider, and with repeated blows felled the animal to the earth. That he should escape could not be expected; but his death and the noble deed kindled such enthusiasm, that his clan threw wide the gate, and rushing sword in hand amidst the multitude, perished to a man. But they died not unavenged: thirteen hundred of the bravest of the Mahrattas accompanied them to Suryaloka, the warrior’s heaven. The invaders continued their inroad, and invested Sohet: but the prince sent his commands to the garrison to preserve their lives for Kotah, and not again sacrifice them, as the point of honour had been nobly maintained. Accordingly, at midnight, they evacuated the place; but whether from accident or treachery, the grass jungle which covered their retreat was set fire to, and cast so resplendent a light, that the brave garrison had to fight their way against desperate odds, and many were slain. Malharrao Holkar, who had been greatly disheartened at the loss sustained at Bakhani, was revived at this success, and prepared to follow it up. Raja Guman deemed it advisable to try negotiation, and the Bhangrot Faujdar was sent with full powers to treat with the Mahratta commander; but he failed and returned.
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³ [About 60 miles S. of Kotah city.]
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¹ The reader is requested to refer to p. 1483, for evidence of the loyalty and heroism of Sawant Hara, the founder of this clan.
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Zālim Singh appointed Guardian of the Heir.—Such was the moment chosen by young Zālim to force himself into the presence of his offended prince. In all probability he mentioned the day at Bhatwara, where by his courage, and still more by his tact, he released Kotah from the degradation of being subordinate to Amber; and that it was by his influence with the same Malharrao Holkar, who now threatened Kotah, he was enabled to succeed.
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He was invested with full powers ; the negotiation was renewed, and terminated successfully : for the sum of six lakhs of rupees the Mahratta leader withdrew his horde from the territory of Kotah. His [522] prince’s favour was regained, his estate restored, and the unsuccessful negotiator lost the office of Faujdar, into which young Zalim was reinducted. But scarcely had he recovered his rights, before Guman Singh was taken grievously ill, and all hopes of his life relinquished. To whom could the dying prince look at such a moment, as guardian of his infant son, but the person whose skill had twice saved the State from peril? He accordingly proclaimed his will to his chiefs, and with all due solemnity placed Ummed Singh, then ten years of age, ‘in the lap’ of Zalim Singh.
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Mahārāo Ummed Singh, A.D. 1771-1819.—Ummed Singh was proclaimed in S. 1827 (A.D. 1771). On the day of inauguration, the ancient Rajput custom of the tika-daur was revived, and the conquest of Kelwara ¹ from the house of Narwar marked with éclat the accession of the Maharao of the Haras of Kotah, and gave early indication that the genius of the regent would not sleep in his office of protector. More than half a century of rule, amidst the most appalling vicissitudes, has amply confirmed the prognostication.
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¹ [About 70 miles E. of Kotah city.]
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The retention of a power thus acquired, it may be concluded, could never be effected without severity, nor the vigorous authority, wielded throughout a period beyond the ordinary limits of mortality, be sustained without something more potent than persuasion. Still, when we consider Zalim’s perilous predicament, and the motives to perpetual reaction, his acts of severity are fewer than might have been expected, or than occur in the course of usurpation under similar circumstances. Mature reflection initiated all his measures, and the sagacity of their conception was only equalled by the rapidity of their execution. Whether the end in view was good or evil, nothing was ever half-done ; no spark was left to excite future conflagration. Even this excess of severity was an advantage ; it restrained the repetition of what, whether morally right or wrong, he was determined not to tolerate. To pass a correct judgment on these acts is most difficult. What in one case was a measure of barbarous severity, appears in another to have been one indispensable to the welfare of the State. But this is not the place to discuss the character or principles of the regent; let us endeavour to unfold both in the exhibition of those acts which have carried him through the most tempestuous sea of political convulsion in the whole history of India. When nought but revolution and rapine stalked through the land, when State after State was crumbling into dust, or sinking into the abyss of ruin, he guided the vessel entrusted to his care safely through all dangers, adding yearly to her riches, until he placed her in security under the protection of Britain [523].
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Zālim Singh Regent of Kotah.—Scarcely had Zālim assumed the protectorate, when he was compelled to make trial of those Machiavellian powers which have never deserted him, in order to baffle the schemes devised to oppose him. The duties of Faujdar, to which he had hitherto been restricted, were entirely of a military nature; though, as it involved the charge of the castle, in which the sovereign resided, it brought him in contact with his councils. This, however, afforded no plea for interference in the Diwani, or civil duties of the government, in which, ever since his own accession to power, he had a coadjutor in Rae Akhairam, a man of splendid talents, and who had been Diwan or prime minister throughout the reign of Chhattarsal and the greater part of that of his successor. To his counsel is mainly ascribed the advantages gained by Kotah throughout these reigns; yet did he fall a sacrifice to jealousies a short time before the death of his prince, Guman Singh. It is not affirmed that they were the suggestions of young Zālim; but Akhairam’s death left him fewer competitors to dispute the junction in his own person of the civil as well as military authority of the State. Still he had no slight opposition to overcome, in the very opening of his career. The party which opposed the pretensions of Zālim Singh to act as regent of the State, asserting that no such power had been bequeathed by the dying prince, consisted of his cousin, the Maharaja Sarup Singh, and the Bhangrot chief, whose disgrace brought Zālim into power. There was, besides, the Dhabhai Jaskaran, foster-brother to the prince, a man of talent and credit, whose post, being immediately about his person, afforded opportunities for carrying their schemes into effect.
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Murder of Sarūp Singh.—Such was the powerful opposition arrayed against the protector in the very commencement of his career. The conspiracy was hardly formed, however, before it was extinguished by the murder of the Maharaja by the hands of the Dhabhai, the banishment of the assassin, and the flight of the Bhangrot. The rapidity with which this drama was enacted struck terror into all. The gaining over the foster-brother, the making him the instrument of punishment, and banishing him for the crime, acted like a spell, and appeared such a masterpiece of daring and subtilty combined, that no one thought himself secure. There had been no cause of discontent between the Maharaja and the Dhabhai, to prompt revenge; yet did the latter, in the glare of open day, rush upon him in the garden of Brajvilas,¹ and with a blow of his scimitar end his days. The regent was the loudest in execrating the author of the crime, whom he instantly seized and confined, and soon after expelled from Haraoti. But however well acted, this dissimulation passed not with the world; and, whether innocent or guilty, they lay to Zalim’s charge the plot for the murder of the Maharaja. The Dhabhai died in exile and contempt at [524] Jaipur; and in abandoning him to his fate without provision, Zalim, if guilty of the deed, showed at once his knowledge and contempt of mankind. Had he added another murder to the first, and in the fury of an affected indignation become the sole depository of his secret, he would only have increased the suspicion of the world; but in turning the culprit loose on society to proclaim his participation in the crime, he neutralized the reproach by destroying the credibility of one who was a self-convicted assassin when he had it in his power to check its circulation. In order to unravel this tortuous policy, it is necessary to state that the Dhabhai was seduced from the league by the persuasion of the regent, who insinuated that the Maharaja formed plans inimical to the safety of the young prince, and that his own elevation was the true object of his hostility to the person entrusted with the charge of the minor sovereign. Whatever truth there might be in this, which might be pleaded in justification of the foul crime, it was attended with the consequences he expected. Immediately after, the remaining member of the adverse junta withdrew, and at the same time many of the nobles abandoned their estates and their country. Zalim evinced his contempt of their means of resistance by granting them free egress from the kingdom, and determined to turn their retreat to account. They went to Jaipur and to Jodhpur; but troubles prevailed everywhere; the princes could with difficulty keep the prowling Mahratta from their own doors, and possessed neither funds nor inclination to enter into foreign quarrels for objects which would only increase their already superabundant difficulties. The event turned out as Zalim anticipated; and the princes, to whom the refugees were suitors, had a legitimate excuse in the representations of the regent, who described them as rebels to their sovereign and parties to designs hostile to his rule. Some died abroad, and some, sick of wandering in a foreign land dependent on its bounty, solicited as a boon that "their ashes might be burned with their fathers'." In granting this request, Zalim evinced that reliance on himself, which is the leading feature of his character. He permitted their return, but received them as traitors who had abandoned their prince and their country, and it was announced to them, as an act of clemency, that they were permitted to live upon a part of their estates; which, as they had been voluntarily abandoned, were sequestrated and belonged to the crown.
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