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 Hara Rao, as if glorying in
the act, carried off the _chhattar-changi_, ‘the golden sun in the sable
disk,’ the regal insignia of Mewar, which he lodged in the palace of
Bundi. The abdicated Ummeda, whose gratified revenge had led to a life
of repentance, was horror-struck at this fresh atrocity in his house
[499]: he cried, “Shame on the deed!” nor would he henceforth look on
the face of his son.
A highly dramatic effect is thrown around the last worldly honours paid
to the murdered king of Mewar; and although his fate has been elsewhere
described, it may be proper to record it from the chronicle of his
foeman.
=The Obsequies of Rāna Ari Singh.=—The Rana and the Bundi prince had
married two sisters, daughters of the prince of Kishangarh, so that
there were ties of connexion to induce the Rana to reject all suspicion
of danger, though he had been warned by his wife to beware of his
brother-in-law. The ancient feud had been balanced in the mutual death
of the last two princes, and no motive for enmity existed. On the day
previous to this disastrous event, the Mewar minister had given a feast,
of which the princes and their nobles had partaken, when all was harmony
and friendship; but the sequel to the deed strongly corroborates the
opinion that it was instigated by the nobles of Mewar, in hatred of
their tyrannical prince; and other hints were not wanting in addition to
the indignant threats of the minister to kindle the feeling of revenge.
At the moment the blow was struck, a simple mace-bearer alone had the
fidelity to defend his master; not a chief was at hand either to
intercept the stroke, or pursue the assassin; on the contrary, no sooner
was the deed consummated, than the whole chivalry of Mewar, as if
panic-struck and attacked by a host, took to flight, abandoning their
camp and the dead body of their master.
A single concubine remained to perform the last rites to her lord. She
commanded a costly pyre to be raised, and prepared to become his
companion to a world unknown. With the murdered corpse in her arms, she
reared her form from the pile, and, as the torch was applied, she
pronounced a curse on his murderer, invoking the tree under whose shade
it was raised to attest the prophecy, “that, if a selfish treachery
alone prompted the deed, within two months the assassin might be an
example to mankind; but if it sprung from a noble revenge of any ancient
feud, she absolved him from the curse: a branch of the tree fell in
token of assent, and the ashes of the Rana and the Sati whitened the
plain of Bilaita.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account