=Bhāt Customs. Coercion by Threat of Human Sacrifice.=—Here I had an exemplification of the vulgar adage, “two of a trade,” etc. Pema Naik, the leader of one of the largest _tandas_, or caravans, which frequent the desert for salt, had left his convoy, and with his brethren came to exhibit his wounds and fractures received in a fray with the leaders of another caravan. Both were Bhats; Pema was the head of the Bamania Bhats, so called from the place of their abode, and he counted forty thousand beasts of burthen under his control. Shama had no distinctive epithet: he had no home separate from [703] his _tanda_. His little State when not in motion was on the highways; hence those who dwell entirely with their cattle are styled _upapanti_, ‘on the road.’ Shama had taken advantage of the greater portion of Pema’s caravan being detached to revenge an ancient feud; and had shown himself quite an adept in club-law, as the broken heads of his opponents disclosed. To reconcile them was impossible; and as the case was to be decided, not by the scales of abstract justice but by calculating which contributed most in duties, Pema by this summary process, more than from sympathy to his wounded honour, gained a victory by the exclusion of his rival. As before observed, these classes take advantage of their sacred character amongst the Rajputs to become the general carriers of the country: but the advantage which might result to the State from the respect paid to them is neutralized by their avarice and constant evasion of the payment of all established duties. A memorable example of this kind occurred during the reign of Amra the First with the ancestor of this same Pema. The Rana would not submit to the insolent demands of the Bhats, when they had recourse to one of the most sanguinary sacrifices ever recorded—the threat alone of which is generally sufficient to extort acquiescence and concession. But the firmness of Amra has been recorded: and he braved them. Collecting the elder portion of their community, men, women, and youths of both sexes, they made a sacrifice to the number of eighty souls with their daggers in the court of the palace. The blood of the victims was on the Rana’s head.[4.26.49] It was a species of excommunication, which would have unsettled a weaker reason; for the Rajput might repose after the murder of a Brahman, but that of the prophetic Vates would rise against him here and hereafter. For once they encountered a mind too strong to be shaken; Amra banished the whole fraternity of Bamania Bhats from his dominions, and the town of Bamani reverted to the fisc. The edict remained uncancelled until these days, when amongst the industrious of all classes whom the proclamations[4.26.50] brought once more to Mewar, came Pema and his brethren. Although tradition had preserved the causes of their exile, it had made no alteration in their sentiments and opinions, and the dagger was always at hand, to be sheathed in