Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c43.t1.479

v3.c43.t1.479

Nārāyanpur, December 13, eleven miles.—Marched at daybreak, and about a coss north of the city ascended the natural boundary of Haraoti and Malwa; at the point of ascent was Gundor, formerly in the appanage of the Ghatirao (‘lord of the pass’), one of the legendary heroes of past days; and half a coss further was the point of descent into the Antri, or ‘valley,’ through which our course lay due north. In front, to the north-west, Gagraun, on the opposite range, was just visible through the gloom; while the yet more ancient Mhau,⁴ the first capital of the Khichis, was pointed out five coss to the eastward. I felt most anxious to visit this city, celebrated in the traditions of Central India, and containing in itself and all around much that was worthy of notice. But time pressed; so we continued our route over the path trodden by the army of Alau-d-din when he besieged Achaldas in Gagraun.¹ The valley was full three miles wide, the soil fertile, and the scenery highly picturesque. The forest on each side echoed with the screams of the peacock, the calls of the partridge, and the note of the jungle-cock, who was crowing his matins as the sun gladdened his retreat. It was this Antri, or valley, that the regent selected for his Chhaoni, or ‘fixed camp,’ where he has resided for the last thirty years. It had at length attained the importance of a town, having spacious streets and well-built houses, and the materials for a circumvallation were rapidly accumulating: but there is little chance of his living to see it finished. The site is admirably chosen, upon the banks of the Amjar, and midway between the castle of Gagraun and Jhalrapatan. A short distance to the west of the regent’s camp is the Pindari-ki-chhaoni, where the sons of Karim Khan, the chief leader of those hordes, resided; for in these days of strife the old regent would have allied himself with Satan, if he had led a horde of plunderers. I was greatly amused to see in this camp, also assuming a permanent shape, the commencement of an Idgah, or ‘place of prayer’; for the villains, while they robbed and murdered even defenceless women, prayed five times a day!