Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 2 of 3: or the Central and Western Rajput States of IndiaTod, James
History
Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 2 of 3: or the Central and Western Rajput States of India
Tod, James
Rajasthan (India) -- History; Rajput (Indic people) -- History
this memento of some victory of the ancient lords of Mandor.
=Thāna Pir.=—A little distance to the northward of my position is the
Than or ‘station’ of a Muhammadan saint, a disciple of the celebrated
Khwaja Kutab, whose shrine at Ajmer is celebrated. This of Thana
Pir,[4.27.23] as they call him, was a place of great resort to the
unsanctified Kafirs, the mercenary Sindis and Afghans, who long prowled
about these regions in quest of [728] prey, or plunder, or both. Nearly
in the same direction, beyond the walls, are the cenotaphs of the early
Rathors and the Satis already mentioned; but tradition’s voice is mute
as to the spot which contains the ashes of the Parihars. To the east and
north-east, nature has formed at once a barrier to this antique castle,
and a place of recreation for its inhabitants; a lengthened chasm in the
whole face, appearing like a dark line, were it not for the superb
foliage of gular, mango, and the sacred bar and pipal, which rise above
the cleft, planted about the fountain and perpendicular cliffs of the
Nagda, and which must have proved a luxurious retreat to the princes of
Mandor from the reverberation of the sun’s rays on the rock-built
palace; for there is but a scanty brushwood scattered over the surface,
which is otherwise destitute of all vegetation.
Let us now descend by the same causeway to the glen of Panchkunda, where
there is much to gratify both the lover of the picturesque and the
architectural antiquary. At the foot of the causeway, terminated by a
reservoir of good water, are two gateways, one conducting to the gardens
and their palaces erected by the Rathors; the other, to the statues of
the Paladins of the desert. Leaving both for a moment, I pursued the
‘serpentine’ rivulet to its fountain, where
Couched among fallen columns, in the shade
Of ruined walls that had survived the names
Of those who reared them,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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