Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 3 of 3: or the Central and Western Rajput States of IndiaTod, James
History
Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 3 of 3: or the Central and Western Rajput States of India
Tod, James
Rajasthan (India) -- History; Rajput (Indic people) -- History
Several generations subsequent to Bhojraj, Jagram succeeded to the lands
of Udaipur. He had six sons, the eldest of whom, Sadhu, quarrelled with
his father, on some ceremonial connected with the celebration of the
military festival, the Dasahra,[9.7.21] and quitting the paternal roof,
sought his fortunes abroad. At this time, almost all the tract now
inhabited by the Sadhanis was dependent on Fatehpur (Jhunjhunu), the
residence of a Nawab of the Kaimkhani tribe of Afghans,[9.7.22] who held
it as a fief of the empire. To him Sadhu repaired, and was received with
favour, and by his talents and courage rose in consideration, until he
was eventually intrusted with the entire management of affairs. There
are two accounts of the mode of his ulterior advancement: both may be
correct. One is, that the Nawab, having no children, adopted young
Sadhu, and assigned to him Jhunjhunu and its eighty-four dependencies,
which he retained on the Kaimkhani’s death. The other, and less
favourable though equally probable account, is that, feeling his
influence firmly established, he hinted to his patron, that the township
of —— was prepared for his future residence, where he should enjoy a
sufficient pension, as he intended to retain possession of his delegated
authority. So completely had he supplanted the Kaimkhani, that he found
himself utterly unable to make a party against the ungrateful
Shaikhawat. He therefore fled from Jhunjhunu to Fatehpur, the other
division of his authority, or at [426] least one of his own kin, who
espoused his cause, and prepared to expel the traitor from Jhunjhunu.
Sadhu, in this emergency, applied to his father, requesting him to call
upon his brethren, as it was a common cause. The old chief, who, in his
son’s success, forgave and forgot the conduct which made him leave his
roof, instantly addressed another son, then serving with his liege lord,
the Mirza Raja Jai Singh, in the imperial army, to obtain succour for
him; and some regular troops with guns were immediately dispatched to
reinforce young Sadhu and maintain his usurpation, which was
accomplished, and moreover Fatehpur was added to Jhunjhunu. Sadhu
bestowed the former with its dependencies, equal in value to his own
share, on his brother, for his timely aid, and both, according to
previous stipulation, agreed to acknowledge their obligations to the
Raja by an annual tribute and _nazarana_ on all lapses, as
lord-paramount. Sadhu soon after wrested Singhana, containing one
hundred and twenty-five villages, from another branch of the Kaimkhanis;
Sultana, with its Chaurasi, or division of eighty-four townships, from
the Gaur Rajputs; and Khetri and its dependencies from the Tuars, the
descendants of the ancient emperors of Delhi: so that, in process of
time, he possessed himself of a territory comprising more than one
thousand towns and villages. Shortly before his death he divided the
conquered lands amongst his five sons, whose descendants, adopting his
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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