Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c43.t1.581

v3.c43.t1.581

The Khuman Raesa, or story of Rawat Khuman, was composed in the ninth century; ² and the poet has not exaggerated; for of all the royal abodes of India, none could compete with Chitor before she became a “widow.” But we must abandon the Raesa for a simple prose description. Chitor is situated on an isolated rock of the same formation as the Patar, whence it is distant about three miles, leaving a fertile valley between, in which are the estates of Bijaipur, Gwalior, and part of Begun, studded with groves, but all waste through long-continued oppression. The general direction of the rock is from S.S.W. to N.N.E.; the internal length on the summit being three miles and two furlongs, and the greatest central breadth twelve hundred yards. The circumference of the hill at its base, which is fringed with deep woods, extending to the summit, and in which lurk tigers, deer, hogs, and even lions, is somewhere above eight miles, and the angle of ascent to its scarped summit about 45°. The Talaiti, or lower town, is on the west side, which in some places presents a double scarp, and this side is crowded with splendid objects; the triumphal column, the palaces of Chitrang Mori, of Rana Raemall, the huge temple of Rana Mokal, the hundred pinnacles of the acropolis of the Guhilots, and last, not least, the mansions of Jaimall and Patta, built on a projecting point, are amongst the most remarkable monuments overlooking the plain.