Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c43.t1.177

v3.c43.t1.177

Nānta. Rājput Music.—Nanta is a fine specimen of a Rajput baronial residence. We entered through a gateway, at the top of which was the Naubat-khana, or saloon for the band, into an extensive court having colonnaded piazzas all round, in which the vassals were ranged. In the centre of this area was a pavilion, apart from the palace, surrounded by orangeries and odoriferous flowers, with a jet-d'eau in the middle, whence little canals conducted the water and kept up a perpetual verdure. Under the arcade of this pavilion, amidst a thousand welcomes, thundering of cannon, trumpets, and all sorts of sounds, we took our seats; and scarcely had congratulations passed and the area was cleared of our escorts, when, to the sound of the tabor and sarangi, the sweet notes of a Panjabi tappa saluted our ears. There is a plaintive simplicity in this music, which denotes originality, and even without a knowledge of the language, conveys a sentiment to the most fastidious, when warbled in the impassioned manner which some of these syrens possess. While the Mahratta delights in the dissonant dhurpad,¹ which requires a rapidity of utterance quite surprising, the Rajput reposes in his tappa, which, conjoined with his opium, creates a paradise. Here we sat, amidst the orange-groves of Nanta, the jet-d'eau throwing a mist between us and the group, whose dark tresses, antelope-eyes, and syren-notes, were all thrown away upon the Frank, for my teeth were beating time from the ague-fit.