=Rāo Banda, _c._ A.D. 1485.=—Banda has left a deathless name in Rajwara for his boundless charities, more especially during the famine which desolated that country in S. 1542 (A.D. 1486).[10.2.12] He was forewarned, says the bard, in a vision, of the visitation. Kal (Time or the famine personified) appeared riding on a lean black buffalo. Grasping his sword and shield, the intrepid Hara assaulted the apparition. “Bravo, Banda Hara,” it exclaimed; “I am Kal (Time); on me your sword will fall in vain. Yet you are the only mortal who ever dared to oppose me. Now listen: I am Byalis (forty-two); the land will become a desert; fill your granaries, distribute liberally, they will never empty.” Thus saying, the spectre vanished. Rao Banda obeyed the injunction; he collected grain from every surrounding State. One year passed and another had almost followed, when the periodical rains ceased, and a famine ensued which ravaged all India. Princes far and near sent for aid to Bundi, while his own poor had daily portions served out gratis: which practice is still kept up in memory of Rao Banda, by the name of Langar-ki-gagari, or ‘anchor of Banda.’[10.2.13] But the piety and charity of Rao Banda could not shield him from adversity. His two youngest brothers, urged by the temptation of power, abandoned their faith, and with the aid of the royal power expelled him from Bundi, where, under their new titles of Samarkandi and Amarkandi, they jointly ruled eleven years. Banda retired to Matunda, in the hills, where he died after a reign of twenty-one years, and where his cenotaph still remains. He left two sons: 1. Narayandas; and 2. Nirbudh, who had Matunda. =Rāo Nārāyandās.=—Narayan had grown up to manhood in this retreat; but no sooner was he at liberty to act for himself, than he assembled the Haras of the Patar, and revealed his determination to obtain Bundi, or perish in the attempt. They swore to abide his fortunes. After the days of _matam_ (mourning) were over, he sent to his Islamite uncles a complimentary message, intimating his wish to pay his respects to them; and not suspecting danger from a youth brought up in obscurity, it was signified that he might come.