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
=The Wanderings of Ummed Singh.=—With a small escort of his gallant
clansmen, during a long series of years he traversed every region, from
the glacial fountains of the Ganges to the southern promontory of
Rameswaram;[10.4.20] and from the hot-wells of Sita in Arakan,[10.4.21]
and the Moloch of Orissa,[10.4.22] to the shrine of the Hindu Apollo at
‘the world’s end.’[10.4.23] Within these limits of Hinduism, Ummeda saw
every place of holy resort, of curiosity, or of learning; and whenever
he revisited his paternal domains, his return was greeted not only by
his own tribe, but by every prince and Rajput of Rajwara, who deemed his
abode hallowed if the princely pilgrim halted there on his route. He was
regarded as an oracle, while the treasures of knowledge which his
observation had accumulated, caused his conversation to be courted and
every word to be recorded. The admiration paid to him while living
cannot be better ascertained than by the reverence manifested by every
Hara to his memory. To them his word was a law, and every relic of him
continues to be held in veneration. Almost his last journey was to the
extremity of his nation, the temples at the Delta of the Indus, and the
shrine of the Hindu Cybele, the terrific Agnidevi of Hinglaj, on the
shores of Makran, even beyond the Rubicon of the Hindus.[10.4.24] As he
returned by Dwarka he was beset by a band of Kabas,[10.4.25] a
plundering race infesting these regions. But the veteran, uniting the
arm of flesh to that of faith, valiantly defended himself, and gained a
complete victory, making prisoner their leader, who, as the price of his
ransom, took an oath never again to molest the pilgrims to Dwarka.
The warlike pilgrimage of Ummeda had been interrupted by a tragical
occurrence, which occasioned the death of his son, and compelled him to
abide for a time at the seat of government to superintend the education
of his grandchild. This eventful catastrophe, interwoven in the border
history of Mewar and Haraoti, is well worthy of narration, as
illustrative of manners and belief, and fulfilled a prophecy pronounced
centuries before by the dying Sati of Bumbaoda, that “the Rao and the
Rana should never meet at the Aheria (or spring hunt) without death
ensuing.” What we are about to relate was the fourth repetition of this
sport with the like fatal result.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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