Note 24 — CHAPTER 9

The government of Papa Bai, a princess of ancient time, whose mis-managed sovereignty has given a proverb to the Rajput. [Major Luard informs me that Pāpa Bāi is said to have been the daughter of a Rājput of Siddal. She and Shiral Seth, a corn-merchant who, in return for his penances, asked to be made a king for three ghatikas (twenty-four minutes each), and gave indiscriminately alms to rich and poor, are bywords for foolish extravagance. She is worshipped at a shrine in Ujjain by all who desire good crops, especially sugar. Another name for such a period of misrule is Harbong kā rāj (Elliot, Supplemental Glossary, 466 ff.).]