Chapter 2 — Annals of Mewar

The state of Mewar lies in the south of Rajputana. In shape and position it resembles a rectangle, placed obliquely, so that the longer sides face north-west and south - east. Let us call it the rectangle ABCD, A and C being the points at the north and south corners, B and D those at the east and west respectively. The side AB separates the state from the British district of Ajmfr, the side BC from the territories of Bundi and Malwa, CD from the district of Gujarat, and DA from Sirohi, Godwar, and Marwar or Jodhpur. The length of the rectangle is roughly 150 miles, its breadth from 80 to 100, and its area is 13,000 square miles. The upper portion is a rich undulating plateau sloping gradually to the north-east, while the lower or south-western portion is almost entirely covered with hills, rocks, and dense jungles. The Aravalli hills extend throughout the entire lengths of the sides AD and DC, increasing in height and width as they approach the point D, where the highest peaks rise more than 4,500 feet above the level of the sea. Mount Abu is a few miles to the west of the point D. Near this spot, and on the eastern side of the hills, rises the principal river of Mewar, the Banas, which, flowing in a direction east by north-east, leaves the state near Deoli on the eastern boundary, and eventually joins the Chambal, of which it is the chief tributary. In the same corner of the rectangle is Udaipur, the present capital. It is situated in a valley some eightysquare miles in extent. Three main passes lead into the valley from the east, while from the west it is almost inaccessible. The ancient capital, Chitor, is situated near the middle point of the side BC. The mountains on this side belong to the Satpiira range, and, though lower than the Aravallis, are equally wild and precipitous, and present a no less effectual barrier against foreign invasion. The whole of this mountainous tract, bordering nearly three sides of the rectangle, is inhabited by the Bhils and other aboriginal tribes, living in a state of primeval and savage independence. For centuries they acknowledged no paramount power, and paid tribute to none. Their chiefs were men of no small authority and influence, and could, when occasion demanded, muster as many as five thousand bows. The northern portion of the Aravallis averages from six to fifteen miles in breadth, having upwards of one hundred and fifty villages scattered over its valleys. This region is abundantly watered, and not deficient in pasture; there is cultivation enough for all internal wants, though the produce is raised with infinite labour on terraces, as the vine is cultivated in Switzerland and on the Rhine. The valleys abound in variegated quartz and varieties of schistous slate of every hue. The latter is largely used for the roofing of houses and temples, to which, when illumined by the rays of the sun, it gives a most singular appearance. The tin and silver mines of Mewar were, in ancient times, very productive; but, during the domination of the Moguls, political reasons led to the concealment of such sources of wealth, and now the caste of miners is almost extinct. Copper is still abundant and supplies the currency, while the garnet, the chrysolite, rock crystals, and inferior kinds of the emerald family, are all to be found within the state. Such are the main features of the country whose story we are about to commence; a country richly endowed by nature and peopled by one of the noblest races of the east. Within her boundaries Mewar contained all the elements of future greatness; but the very sources of prosperity led to her downfall. Her fertile plains and prosperous cities became a standing temptation to the hordes of hungry invaders who came with monotonous regularity to devastate her fields and batten on her wealth. The Rajput, with a spirit of constancy and enduring courage to which the history of the world hardly affords a parallel, seized every opportunity to turn upon his oppressors. By his perseverance and valour, he wore out entire dynasties of foes. But all was of no avail; fresh supplies were ever pouring in, and dynasty succeeded dynasty, heir to the same remorseless feeling which sanctified murder, legalised spoliation, and deified destruction. For centuries this little state withstood every outrage barbarity could inflict, or human nature sustain; until, in the year 1817, her resources broken, her lands alienated, and her people demoralised, she sank exhausted under the protecting arm of Great Britain. The princes of Mewar are styled Ranas and are the elder branch of the Siiryavansi or " children of the sun." Amongst his own people the chief of the state is known as Hindua Sura/, the " Sun of the Hindus." He is regarded as the legitimate heir to the throne of Rama, nor has any doubt ever been thrown on the purity of his descent. With the exception of Jaisalmir, Mewar is the only Rajput state that has outlived eight hundred years of foreign domination, and the Rana of Udaipur rules to-day over the same territory that his ancestors held when the conqueror from Ghazni first carried his victorious arms across the blue waters1 of the Indus. The title "Rana" is, comparatively speaking, of modern adoption, and was assumed in consequence of a victory gained over the Prince of Mandor, the original possessor of the title, who surrendered it, together with his life and capital, to the Mewar prince. The records of the state make Kanaksen, fiftysixth in descent from the deified Rama, the founder of the Mewar dynasty, and assign a.d. 145 as the date of his migration from the northern plains of India to the peninsula of Surashtra. Rama had two sons, Loh and Cush. Loh, from whom the Rana's family claim descent, is said to have built Lahore, the ancient Lohkot, where his children and his children's children ruled until the days of Kanaksen. By what route Kanaksen made his way from Lohkot to Surashtra is uncertain. We know, however, that about the middle of the second century he set up his capital at Birnagara, which place he captured from a chief of the Pramara race, one of the thirty-six royal races of Rajasthan, and that during the next four generations the seat of power was transferred from city to city, and was eventually established at Ballabhiputra, about ten miles north of the present city of Bhownagar. Of the nine princes who here succeeded one another, little but their names is known. We have, in fact, to jump over a period of nearly three hundred years before we again find footing on historical ground. History meets us in a.d. 524, and we learn that in that year Ballabhiputra was overthrown by the Scythians, who, at that period, had begun to abandon the barren steppes of Central Asia for the more fertile plains of Hindustan. "In the west," says an ancient chronicle, " is Suratdes, a country well known. The barbarians invaded it and conquered the lord of Bhal. All fell in the sack of Ballabhiputra, except the daughter of the Pramara." The princess referred to in the chronicle was the favourite wife of the Rana. She was not in Ballabhiputra at the time of the siege, having gone to her home to lay an offering at the shrine of Ambabhavani, the Universal Mother, and to gain thereby a blessing for the child she was shortly to bear. She had already set out on her return journey when news reached her of the calamity which had befallen the city. Stricken with grief, she sought refuge in a mountain cave and was there delivered of a son. Returning once more to her home, she confided the child to the care of a Brahmini named Camalavati ; ^ and having charged her to bring up the young prince as a Brahmin, and to marry him to a Rajput princess, she mounted the funeral pyre and joined her lord. Camalavati loved the child and reared him along with her own son. She called him Goha, that is "cave-born," and hence his descendants came to be known as Gohilotes, softened in later times to Gehlotes. The child was a source of perpetual uneasiness to his protectress, and at the age of eleven had become totally unmanageable. He spent his days in the forests in company with the Bhils, whose habits pleased his daring nature far better than those of the Brahmins. So completely did he win the hearts of these wild people by his strength and his courage, that they determined to make him prince of Idar, and a young Bhil, cutting his finger, applied the blood as the tika of sovereignty to his forehead. Here again the light of history fails us, and of Goha's subsequent career and of the eight princes who succeeded him on the throne of Idar we know nothing, except that they dwelt in the mountains and that their reigns covered a period of two and a half centuries. The name of the ninth prince was Nagadit. Against him the Bhils rebelled, having, apparently, grown tired of a foreign rule. Nagadit was slain, and once more the house of Kanaksen was on the verge of extinction. Of the royal house, Bappa, the infant son of Nagadit, alone survived, and, by a strange coincidence, his preservers were the descendants of Camalavati, the Brahmini of Biranagar, who protected and fostered the infant Goha. Bappa was concealed in the hills overlooking Nagda, not ten miles distant from the site of Udaipur, the future home of his race. Tradition has preserved many tales of Bappa's infancy. In his boyhood, we are told, he attended the sacred kine, an occupation which was considered honourable even by the "children of the sun." One day, while he was thus engaged, it happened that the daughter of the Solanki chief of Nagda, attended by a band of Rajput maidens, came to the forest to indulge in the pastime of swinging. Having reached their favourite glade, they discovered that they had come unprovided with a rope, and, chancing to see Bappa, who was grazing his kine in the forest, they called upon him to further their sport. Bappa promised to procure a rope if they would first play a game at marriage. One frolic was as good as another. The scarf of the Solanki princess was fastened to the garment of Bappa, and the Rajput maidens, joining hands with the pair, formed a ring round an ancient mango tree, and, unwittingly or otherwise, performed the mystic number of evolutions prescribed by the marriage rite. Thus the ceremony, begun in play, ended by being a reality. Not many days after, a suitable offer for the hand of the young princess was received, and the family priest of the would-be bridegroom, whose duty it was to read by the aid of palmistry the fortunes of the bride, made the startling discovery that she was already married. The intelligence, as may well be conceived, caused the greatest consternation. Bappa had little difficulty in swearing his brother shepherds to silence, but a secret shared by so many of the daughters of Eve could hardly remain such long; and before many days had passed the chief of Nagda had a very shrewd suspicion as to who the offender was. Warned of the danger he was in, Bappa sought refuge in the mountains. He was accompanied in his flight by Baleo and Dewa, two faithful Bhfls, who followed the fortunes of their master till he eventually gained the throne of Chitor, and it was Baleo who, with his own blood, drew the ttka1 of sovereignty on the young prince's forehead. The frolic of the youthful shepherd thus proved to be the origin of his greatness, though it burdened him, not only with a wife, but with all the damsels who had taken part in the ceremony, and hence with a numerous issue, whose descendants still ascribe their origin to the prank of Bappa round the old mango tree of Nagda. At this time, Chitor was ruled by a prince of the Pramara race, known as the Mori, and it was this circumstance which induced Bappa to seek aid in that country; for his mother had been a Pramara princess, and he, therefore, anticipated a favourable reception at the hands of the Mori. Nor was he disappointed. He was welcomed with every sign of friendliness and respect. A suitable estate was conferred upon him, and he was enrolled amongst the samunts, or military leaders. The Mori was surrounded by a numerous nobility, holding estates on the tenure of military service. He had never been a popular chief, and the superior regard which he began to display towards Bappa was keenly resented. Indeed, so bitter did the feeling against the Mori become, that when his territory was threatened by a foreign foe, his nobles, instead of obeying the royal summons to arms, threw up their grants, and tauntingly desired him to call upon his favourite. Bappa readily undertook the conduct of war, and the " barons," though dispossessed of their lands, joined him, for they were ashamed to hold aloof from the fight. He not only inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy, but by his courage and military skill won the respect and admiration of the refractory nobles. At the close of the campaign, however, the latter refused either to enter Chitor or to yield allegiance to the Mori. Ambassadors were sent to treat with them ; but their only reply was that, as they had eaten the salt of the prince, they would forbear their vengeance for twelve months. At the expiration of this period they attacked Chitor, carried the city by assault, and then invited Bappa to become their chief. The gratitude of the Gehlote melted away before the temptation of a crown, and, in the words of the chronicle, "he took Chitor from the Mori, and became himself the mor (crown) of the land." Whether Bappa ruled Chitor well or ill, we have no means of knowing. If tradition is to be believed, he abandoned both his children and his country, carried his arms west to Khorasan, and married new wives from among the " barbarians." He is said to have lived to a patriarchal age, and to have been the father of no less than two hundred and twenty-five children. On his death, the chronicle relates, his subjects quarrelled over the disposal of his remains. The Hindu wished fire to consume them, the "barbarian " to commit them to the earth. But, on raising the pall while the dispute was raging, innumerable flowers of the lotus were found in the place of the remains of mortality. By a confusion of eras the domestic annals of Mewar (which bards and chroniclers have followed) give 191 s.v. (era of Vikramaditya), corresponding to a.d. 135, as the date of Bappa's birth. The actual date of this event we now know to be a.d. 713, which, though it curtails by some six hundred years the antiquity of the founder of the state, nevertheless places him in the very dawn of chivalry, when the Carlovingian dynasty flourished in the west, and when Walid, whose bands planted the green standard on the banks of the Ebro, was commander of the faithful. As has already been stated, the Ranas of Mewar have been in possession of their territories since the time when the armies of Islam first crossed the Indus. It was in the year 95 of the Hejira (a.d. 713) that Muhammad bin Kasim, the general of the caliph, Walid, conquered Sind, and it has now been established beyond all doubt that Muhammad bin Kasim was the foe whom Bappa repulsed from the walls of Chitor.

Chapter 2 — Introduction