At three o’clock on the 1st of April, a council of sixteen queens, the widows of the late prince, and the wives of all the great vassals of the State, “assembled to ascertain the fact of pregnancy,” whilst all the great barons awaited in the antechambers of the Zanana Deori the important response of this council of matrons. When it announced that the Bhattiani queen was pregnant beyond a doubt, they consulted until seven, when they sent in a written declaration, avowing their unanimous belief of the fact; and that “should a son be born, they would acknowledge him as their lord, and to none else pledge allegiance.” A transcript of this was given to the Nazir, who was recommended to forward an attested copy to the British Agent at Delhi. From these deliberations, from which there was no appeal, the Nazir was excluded by express desire of the Rathor queen. He made an ineffectual effort to obtain from the chiefs a declaration, that the adoption of the Narwar youth was in conformity to the desire of the deceased prince, their master; but this attempt to obtain indemnity for his illegal acts was defeated immediately on the ground of its untruth.[9.4.23] By this lawful and energetic exertion of the powers directly vested in the queen-mother and the great council of the chiefs, the tongue of faction was rendered mute; but had it been otherwise, another queen was pronounced to be in the same joyful condition.[9.4.24] On the morning of the 25th of April, four months and four days after Jagat Singh’s death, a son was ushered into the world with the usual demonstrations of joy, and received as the Autocrat of the Kachhwahas; while the infant interloper was removed from the _gaddi_, and thrust back to his original obscurity. Thus terminated an affair which involved all Rajwara in discussion, and at one time threatened a very serious result. That it was disposed of in this manner was fortunate for all parties, and not least for the protecting power. Having thus given a connected, though imperfect, sketch of the history of the Jaipur State, from its foundation to the present time, before proceeding with any account of its resources, or the details of its internal administration, we shall delineate the rise, progress, and existing condition of the Shaikhavati federation, which has risen out of, and almost to an equality with, the parent State [387]. ----- Footnote 9.4.1: [Mahīdpur, in the Indore State, 24 miles N. of Ujjain, when Sir John Malcolm defeated the Marāthas on December 21, 1817.] Footnote 9.4.2: _Vide_ Malcolm’s _Political History of India_, p. 434. Footnote 9.4.3: