Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 1 of 3: or the Central and Western Rajput States of IndiaTod, James
History
Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 1 of 3: or the Central and Western Rajput States of India
Tod, James
Rajasthan (India) -- History; Rajput (Indic people) -- History
_Meru_ signifies ‘a hill’ in Sanskrit, hence Komal, or properly
Kūmbhalmer, is ‘the hill’ or ‘mountain of Kūmbha,’ a prince whose
exploits are narrated. Likewise Ajmer is the ‘hill of Ajaya,’ the
‘Invincible’ hill. _Mer_ is with the long é, like _Mère_ in French, in
classical orthography. [Ajmer, ‘hill of Aja, Chauhān.’]
Footnote 1.33:
At the point of my descent this was characteristically illustrated by
my Rajput friend of Semar, whose domain had been invaded and cow-pens
emptied, but a few days before, by the mountain bandit of Sirohi. With
their booty they took the shortest and not most practicable road: but
though their alpine kine are pretty well accustomed to leaping in such
abodes, it would appear they had hesitated here. The difficulty was
soon got over by one of the Minas, who with his dagger transfixed one
and rolled him over the height, his carcase serving at once as a
precedent and a _stepping-stone_ for his horned kindred.
Footnote 1.34:
[“Oldest of all the physical features which intersect the continent is
the range of mountains known as the Arāvallis, which strikes across
the Peninsula from north-east to south-west, overlooking the sandy
wastes of Rājputāna. The Arāvallis are but the depressed and degraded
relics of a far more prominent mountain system, which stood, in
Palaeozoic times, on the edge of the Rājputāna Sea. The disintegrated
rocks which once formed part of the Arāvallis are now spread out in
wide red-stone plains to the east” (_IGI_, i. 1).]
Footnote 1.35:
Near this the Chambal first breaks into the Patar.
Footnote 1.36:
Here is the celebrated pass through the mountains.
Footnote 1.37:
Here the Niwaz breaks the chain.
Footnote 1.38:
Both celebrated passes, where the ranges are very complicated.
Footnote 1.39:
I have rescued a few of these from oblivion to present to my
countrymen.
Footnote 1.40:
Hence its name, _Vindhya_, ‘the barrier,’ to the further progress of
the sun in his northern declination. [Skr. root, _bind_, _bid_, ‘to
divide.’]
Footnote 1.41:
This the fourth Sind of India. We have, first, the Sind or Indus; this
little Sind; then the Kali Sind, or ‘black river’; and again the Sind
rising at Latoti, on the plateau west and above Sironj. _Sin_ is a
Scythic word for river (now unused), so applied by the Hindus. [Skr.
_Sindhu_, probably from the root _syand_, ‘to flow.’]
Footnote 1.42:
The falls of the Kali Sind through the rocks at Gagraun and the
Parbati at Chapra (Gugal) are well worthy of a visit. The latter,
though I encamped twice at Chapra, from which it was reputed five
miles, I did not see.
Footnote 1.43:
_Sangam_ is the point of confluence of two or more rivers, always
sacred to Mahadeva.
Footnote 1.44:
The Jumna, Chambal, and Sind [_triveni_, ‘triple braid’].
Footnote 1.45:
[650 miles.]
Footnote 1.46:
The only tribes not of Rajput blood.
Footnote 1.47:
The ‘virgin’ stream.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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