Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c42.s2.t1.18

v3.c42.s2.t1.18

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.