=Mahārāo Gumān Singh, A.D. 1766-71.=—Guman Singh, in S. 1822 (A.D. 1766), ascended the _gaddi_ of his ancestors. He was in the prime of manhood, full of vigour and intellect, and well calculated to contend with the tempests collecting from the south, ready to pour on the devoted lands of Rajputana. But one short lustrum of rule was all that fate had ordained for him, when he was compelled to resign his rod of power into the hands of an infant. But ere we reach this period, we must retrace our steps, and introduce more prominently the individual whose biography is the future history of this State; for Zalim Singh is Kotah, his name being not only indissolubly linked with hers in every page of her existence, but incorporated with that of every State of Rajputana for more than half a century. He was the _primum mobile_ of the region he inhabited, a sphere far too confined for his genius, which required a wider field for its display, and might have controlled the destinies of nations. =Zālim Singh Jhāla.=—Zalim Singh is a Rajput of the Jhala tribe. He was born in S. 1796 (A.D. 1740), an ever memorable epoch (as already observed) in the history of India, when the victorious Nadir Shah led his hordes into her fertile soil, and gave the finishing blow to the dynasty of Timur. But for this event, its existence might have been protracted, though its recovery was hopeless: the principle of decay had been generated by the policy of Aurangzeb. Muhammad Shah was at this time emperor of India,[10.6.1] and the valiant Durjansal sat on the throne of Kotah. From this period (A.D. 1740) five princes have passed away and a sixth has been enthroned; and, albeit one of these reigns endured for half a century, Zalim Singh has outlived them all,[10.6.2] and though blind, his [518] moral perceptions are as acute as on the day of Bhatwara. What a chain of events does not this protracted life embrace! An empire then dazzling in glory, and now mouldering in the dust. At its opening, the highest noble of Britain would have stood at a reverential distance from the throne of Timur, in the attitude of a suppliant, and now— None so poor To do him reverence. To do anything like justice to the biography of one who for so long a period was a prominent actor in the scene, is utterly impossible; this consideration, however, need not prevent our attempting a sketch of this consummate politician, who can scarcely find a parallel in the varied page of history.