Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c43.89

v3.c43.89

An Ordeal by Oath.—No attempt at consolation could diminish the father's grief; but in promising him my aid to realize his vengeance, I gave him hope to cling to; and on handing him over to Man Singh, saying his own suit would be best promoted by the imprisonment of all concerned in this outrage, he quitted me with some mitigation of his grief. But before he left my camp, tidings arrived that the chief culprit was beyond the reach of man; that the Great Avenger had summoned to his own tribunal the iniquitous steward of Kalakot! Even in these regions of rapine, where the blood of man and of goats is held in almost equal estimation, there was something in the wild grief of the Rathor that sunk into the hearts of the vassals of Kalakot: they upbraided the steward, and urged him to confess the share he had in the deed. But he swore "by his God" he had none, and offered to ratify the oath of purgation in his temple. Nothing less would satisfy them, and they proceeded to the ordeal. The temple was but a few hundred yards distant. The steward mounted his horse, and had just reached the shrine, when he dropped dead at the threshold! It caused a deep sensation; and to the vengeance of an offended divinity was ascribed this signal expiation of the triple crime of theft, murder, and sacrilege. There now only remain the base accomplices of the wretch who thus trafficked with the liberty of his fellow-men; and I should rejoice to see them suspended on the summit of the Bilia pass, as a satisfaction to the now childless Rathor, and a warning to others who yet follow such a course [614].