Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c42.s2.t1.19

v3.c42.s2.t1.19

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.