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
=Battle of Dablāna.=—Inspired with like sentiments, his brave clansmen
formed around the orange flag, the gift of Jahangir to Rao Ratan; and as
they cleared the pass leading to Dablana, the foe was discovered
marshalled to receive them. In one of those compact masses, termed
_gol_, with serried lances advanced, Ummeda led his Haras to the charge.
Its physical and moral impression was irresistible; and a vista was cut
through the dense host opposed to them. Again they formed; and again, in
spite of the showers of cannon-shot, the sword renewed its blows; but
every charge was fatal to the bravest of Ummeda’s men. In the first
onset fell his maternal uncle, Prithi Singh, Solanki, with the Maharaja
Marjad Singh of Motra, a valiant Hara, who fell just as he launched his
_chakra_ (discus) at the head of the Khatri commander of Amber. Prayag
Singh, chief of Soran, a branch of the Thana fief, was also slain, with
many of inferior note. The steed of Ummeda was struck by a cannon-ball,
and the intestines protruded from the wound. The intrepidity of the
youthful hero, nobly seconded by his kin and clan, was unavailing; and
the chieftains, fearing he would throw away a life the preservation of
which they all desired, entreated he would abandon the contest;
observing, “that if he survived, Bundi must be theirs; but if he was
slain, there was an end of all their hopes [489].”
With grief he submitted; and as they gained the Sawali Pass, which leads
to Indargarh, he dismounted to breathe his faithful steed; and as he
loosened the girths, it expired. Ummeda sat down and wept. Hanja was
worthy of such a mark of his esteem: he was a steed of Irak, the gift of
the king to his father, whom he had borne in many an encounter. Nor was
this natural ebullition of the young Hara a transient feeling: Hanja’s
memory was held in veneration, and the first act of Ummeda, when he
recovered his throne, was to erect a statue to the steed who bore him so
nobly on the day of Dablana. It stands in the square (_chauk_) of the
city, and receives the reverence of each Hara, who links his history
with one of the brightest of their achievements, though obscured by
momentary defeat.[10.4.5]
Ummeda gained Indargarh, which was close at hand, on foot; but this
traitor to the name of Hara, who had acknowledged the supremacy of
Amber, not only refused his prince a horse in his adversity, but warned
him off the domain, asking “if he meant to be the ruin of Indargarh as
well as Bundi?” Disdaining to drink water within its bounds, the young
prince, stung by this perfidious mark of inhospitality, took the
direction of Karwain. Its chief made amends for the other’s
churlishness: he advanced to meet him, offered such aid as he had to
give, and presented him with a horse. Dismissing his faithful kinsmen to
their homes, and begging their swords when fortune might be kinder, he
regained his old retreat, the ruined palace of Rampura, amongst the
ravines of the Chambal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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