Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c43.t1.498

v3.c43.t1.498

Menāl.—In February, I recommenced my march for Udaipur, and having halted a few days at Bundi, and found all there as my heart could wish, I resumed the march across the Patar, determined to put into execution my wish of visiting Menal. About ten miles north, on this side of it, I halted at Bijolia, one of the principal fiefs of Mewar, held by a chief of the Pramar tribe, with the title of Rao.¹ This family, originally Raos of Jagner, near Bayana, came into Mewar in the time of the great Amar Singh, with all his basai, upwards of two centuries ago ; the Rana having married the daughter of Rao Asoka, to whom he assigned an estate worth five lakhs annually. I have elsewhere (Vol. I. p. 206) explained the meaning of a term which embraces bondage amongst its synonyms, though it is the lightest species of slavery. Basai, or properly vasi, means a ‘settler,’ an ‘inhabitant,’ from vas, ‘a habitation,’ and vasna, ‘to inhabit,’ but it does not distinguish between free settlers and compulsory labourers ; but wheresoever the phrase is used in Rajwara, it may be assumed to imply the latter. Still, strange to say, the condition includes none of the accessories of slavery : there is no task-duty of any kind, nor is the individual accountable for his labour to any one : he pays the usual taxes, and the only tie upon him appears to be that of a [743] compulsory residence in his vas, and the epithet, which is in itself a fetter upon the mind of the vasi of Bijolia.