"This Rajputni,” adds Colonel Tod, "with an elevation of mind equal to whatever is recorded of Greek and Roman heroines, devoted herself and a husband whom she loved, to the one predominant sentiment of the Rajput-swadharma (duty). The reply of the Deorah prince of Sirohi when instructed to perform that profound obeisance from which none were exempt at Delhi, where he had been carried by Mokundas, one of Jaswant Singh's generals after having been secretly captured whilst asleep in his palace, and his subsequent conduct, shows the high spirit and the independence of character of a true Rajput and his intense love for his country. He said that "his life was in the king's hands, his honour in his own; he had never bowed the head to mortal man, and never would." As Jaswant had pledged himself for his honourable treatment, the officers of the ceremonies endeavoured by stratagem to obtain a constrained obeisance, and instead of introducing him as usual, they showed him a wicket, knee high, and very low overhead, by which to enter, but putting his feet foremost, his head was the last part to appear. This stubborn ingenuity, his noble bearing, and his long-protracted resistance, added to Jaswant's pledge, won the king's favour; and he not only proffered him pardon, but whatever lands he might desire. "Though the king did not name the return, Soortan was well aware of the terms, but he boldly and quickly replied, 'what can your Majesty bestow equal to Achilgurh? let me return to it is all I ask.' The king had the magnanimity to comply with his request; Soortan was allowed to retire to the castle of Abu, nor did he or any of the Deoras ever rank themselves amongst the vassals of the empire; but they have continued to the present hour a life of almost savage independence.' Colonel Tod says: "These men of the soil, as they emphatically designate themselves, cling to it and their ancient and well-defined privileges, with an unconquerable pertinacity; in their endeavours to preserve them, whole generations have been swept away, yet has their strength increased in the very ratio of oppression. Where are now the oppressors? the dynasties of Ghazni, of Ghor, the Ghiljis, the Lodis, the Pathans, the Timoors, and the demoralising Mahratta? The native Rajpoot has flourished amidst these revolutions, and survived their fall; and but for the vices of their internal sway, chiefly contracted from such association, would have risen to power upon the ruin of their tyrants."2 How far will this high character of the Rajputs be influenced by the new condition of things remains to be seen. Colonel Tod says: "When so many nations are called upon, in a period of great calamity and danger, to make over to a foreigner, their opposite in everything, their superior in most, the control of their forces in time of war, the adjudication of their disputes in time of peace, and a share in the fruits of their renovating prosperity, what must be the result, when each Rajpoot may hang up his lance in the hall, convert his sword to a ploughshare, and make a basket of his buckler? What but the prostration of every virtue? To be great, to be independent, its martial spirit must be cherished; happy if within the bounds of moderation."3 It is to be hoped Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. II, pp. 56,57. that education, travel and contact with enlightened Europeans will succeed in counteracting the baneful influences dreaded by the gallant Colonel. "The Rajput, with all his turbulence, possesses in an eminent degree both loyalty and patriotism." What can be a more eloquent testimony to the patriotic fervour and the heroic valour of the Rajputs, than the following extract from the Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan by Colonel Tod: "There is not a petty State in Rajputana that has not had its own Thermopyla and scarcely a city that has not produced its Leonidas. But the mantle of ages has shrouded from view what the magic pen of the historian might have consecrated to endless admiration: Somnath might have rivalled Delphos; the spoils of Hind might have vied with the wealth of the Lybian King; and, compared with the army of the Pandavas, the army of Zerxes would have dwindled into insignificance."2 Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. I, p. 194. Tod's Rajasthan, Introduction, p. 16. VII.-VALOUR. No thought of flight, None of retreat, no unbecoming deed -MILTON: Paradise Lost. be the It was THE Hindus were declared by the Greeks to bravest nation they ever came in contact with.' the Hindu King of Magadha that struck terror in the ever-victorious armies of Alexander the Great. Abul Fazal, the minister of Akbar, after admiring their other noble virtues, speaks of the valour of the Hindus in these terms: "Their character shines brightest in adversity. Their soldiers (Rajputs) know not what it is to flee from the field of battle, but when the success of the combat becomes doubtful, they dismount from their horses and throw away their lives in payment of the debt of valour." "The traveller, Bernier, says that "the Rajputs embrace each other when on the battle-field as if resolved to die." The Spartans, as is well known, dressed their hair on such occasions. It is well known that when a Rajput becomes desperate, he puts on garments of saffron colour, which act, in technical language, is called kesrian kasumal karna (donning saffron robes). . After describing how, when Dara disappeared from the field of Dholpur where the Imperial forces had made a 1 Elphinstone's History of India, p. 197. last stand against the combined armies of Aurangzeb and Murad in their advance to Agra, and the Imperial forces took to flight, the Bundi chief, like Porus of old, continued fighting heroically till he was killed, saying "accursed be he who flies! Here, true to my salt, my feet are rooted to this field, nor will I quit it alive but with victory," and how Bharat Singh, his youngest son maintained the contest nobly, Colonel Tod says: "Thus in the two battles cf Ujjain and Dholpur, no less than 12 princes of the blood, together with the heads of every Hara clan, maintained their fealty even to death. Where are we to look for such examples ?".1 During a visit of the Boondi chief, Rao Sooju, to Chitor, Rana Ratna, at the instigation of an intriguing Poorbia, determined to slay the Rao in an hunt when the respective chiefs were attended only by a couple of servants. Finding a convenient opportunity, the Rana said to his companion, "now is the moment to slay the boar, and instantly an arrow from the bow of the Poorbia was sped at the Rao. "With an eagle's eye he saw it coming, and turned it off with his bow." This might have been chance, but another from the foster-brother of the Rana convinced him there was treachery. Scarcely had he warded off the second, when the Rana darted at him on horseback, and cut him down with his khanda. The Rao fell, but recovering, took his shawl and lightly bound up the wound, and as his foe was making off, he called aloud, "escape you may, but you have sunk Mewar." The Poorbia, who followed his prince, when he saw the Tod's Rajasthan, Vol. II, p. 481. "The annals of no nation on earth can furnish such an example as an entire family, six royal brothers, stretched on the field and all but one in death"--Vol. II, p. 49, |