Book 8 — CHAPTER 2
Reading edition
The Chauhān Rāj.
—This sovereignty (
raj
) of the Chauhans occupies the most remote corner of Rajputana, and its existence is now for the first time noticed. As the quality of greatness as well as goodness is, in a great measure, relative, the Raj of the Chauhans may appear an empire to the lesser chieftains of the desert. Externally, it is environed, on the north and east, by the tracts of the Marwar State we have just been sketching. To the south-east it is bounded by Koliwara, to the south hemmed-in by the Rann, and to the west by the desert of Dhat. Internally, it is partitioned into two distinct governments, the eastern being termed Virawah, and the western from its position ‘across the Luni,’ Parkar;
which appellation, conjoined to Nagar, is also
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applied to the capital, with the distinction of Srinagar, or metropolis. This is the Negar-Parker of the distinguished Rennel, a place visited at a very early stage of our intercourse with these regions by an enterprising Englishman, named Whittington.
History of the Chauhāns.
—The Chauhans of this desert boast the great antiquity of their settlement, as well as the nobility of their blood: they have only to refer to Manik Rae and Bisaldeo of Ajmer, and to Prithiraj, the last Hindu sovereign of Delhi, to establish the latter fact; but the first we must leave to conjecture and their bards, though we may [305] fearlessly assert that they were posterior to the Sodhas and other branches of the Pramar race, who to all appearance were its masters when Alexander descended the Indus. Neither is it improbable that the Malli or Mallani, whom he expelled in that corner of the Panjab, wrested ‘the land of Kher’ from the Sodhas. At all events, it is certain that a chain of Chauhan principalities extended, from the eighth to the thirteenth century, from Ajmer to the frontiers of Sind, of which Ajmer, Nadol, Jalor, Sirohi, and Juna-Chhotan were the capitals; and though all of these in their annals claim to be independent, it may be assumed that some kind of obedience was paid to Ajmer. We possess inscriptions which justify this assertion. Moreover, each of them was conspicuous in Muslim history, from the time of the conqueror of Ghazni to that of Alau-d-din, surnamed ‘the second Alexander.’ Mahmud, in his twelfth expedition, by Multan to Ajmer (whose citadel, Ferishta says, “he was compelled to leave in the hands of the enemy”),
passed and sacked Nadol (transliterated Buzule);
and the traditions of the desert have preserved the recollection of his visit to Juna-Chhotan, and they yet point out the mines by which its castle
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on the rock was destroyed. Whether this was after his visitation and destruction of Nahrvala (Anhilwara Patan), or while on his journey, we have no means of knowing; but when we recollect that in this his last invasion, he attempted to return by Sind, and nearly perished with all his army in the desert, we might fairly suppose his determination to destroy Juna-Chhotan betrayed him into this danger: for besides the all-ruling motive of the conversion or destruction of the ‘infidels,’ in all likelihood the expatriated princes of Nahrvala had sought refuge with the Chauhans amidst the sandhills of Kherdhar, and may thus have fallen into his grasp.
Although nominally a single principality, the chieftain of Parkar pays little, if any, submission to his superior of Virawah. Both of them have the ancient Hindu title of Rana, and are said at least to possess the quality of hereditary valour, which is synonymous with Chauhan. It is unnecessary to particularize the extent in square miles of thal in this raj, or to attempt to number its population, which is so fluctuating; but we shall subjoin a brief account of the chief towns, which will aid in estimating the population of Marusthali. We begin with the first division.
Chief Towns.
—The principal towns in the Chauhan
raj
are Suigam, Dharanidhar,
Bakhasar, Tharad, Hotiganv, and Chitalwana. Rana Narayan Rao resides alternately at Sui and Bah, both large towns surrounded by an
abbatis
, chiefly of the
babul
and other thorny trees, called in these regions
kantha-ka-kot
, which has given these simple, but very [306] efficient fortifications the term of
kantha-ka-kot
, or ‘fort of thorns.’ The resources of Narayan Rao, derived from this desert domain, are said to be three lakhs of rupees, of which he pays a triennial tribute of one lakh to Jodhpur, to which no right exists, and which is rarely realized without an army. The tracts watered by the Luni yield good crops of the richer grains; and although, in the dry season, there is no constant stream, plenty of sweet water is procured by excavating wells in its bed. But it is asserted that, even when not continuous, a gentle current is perceptible in those detached portions or pools, filtrating under the porous sand: a phenomenon
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remarked in the bed of the Kunwari River (in the district of Gwalior), where, after a perfectly dry space of several miles, we have observed in the next portion of water a very perceptible current.
Nagar Pārkar.
—Nagar, or Srinagar, the capital of Parkar, is a town containing fifteen hundred houses, of which, in 1814, one-half were inhabited. There is a small fort to the south-west of the town on the ridge, which is said to be about two hundred feet high. There are wells and
beras
(reservoirs) in abundance. The river Luni is called seven coss south of Nagar, from which we may infer that its bed is distinctly to be traced through the Rann. The chief of Parkar assumes the title of Rana, as well as his superior of Virawah whose allegiance he has entirely renounced, though we are ignorant of the relation in which they ever stood to each other: all are of the same family, the Hapa-Raj, of which Juna-Chhotan was the capital.
Bakhasar.
—Bakhasar ranks next to Srinagar. It was at no distant period a large and, for the desert, a flourishing town; but now (1814) it contains but three hundred and sixty inhabited dwellings. A son of the Nagar chief resides here, who enjoys, as well as his father, the title of Rana. We shall make no further mention of the inferior towns, as they will appear in the itinerary.
Tharād.
—Tharad is another subdivision of the Chauhans of the Luni whose chief town of the same name is but a few coss to the east of Suigam, and which like Parkar is but nominally dependent upon it. With this we shall conclude the subject of Virawah, which, we repeat, may contain many errors.
Face of the Chauhān Rāj.
—As the itinerary will point out in detail the state of the country, it would be superfluous to attempt a more minute description here. The same sterile ridge, already described as passing through Chhotan to Jaisalmer, is to be [307] traced two coss west of Bakhasar, and thence to Nagar, in detached masses. The tracts on both banks of the Luni yield good crops of wheat and the richer grains, and Virawah, though enclosing considerable
thal
, has a good portion of flat, especially towards Radhanpur, seventeen coss from Sui. Beyond the
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Luni, the
thal
rises into lofty
tibas
: and indeed from Chhotan to Bakhasar, all is sterile, and consists of lofty sandhills and broken ridges often covered by the sands.
Water Production.
—Throughout the Chauhan raj, or at least its most habitable portion, water is obtained at a moderate distance from the surface, the wells being from ten to twenty
pursas
,
or about sixty-five to a hundred and thirty feet in depth; nothing, when compared with those in Dhat, sometimes near seven hundred. Besides wheat, on the Luni, the oil-plant (
til
),
mung
,
moth
, and other pulses, with
bajra
, are produced in sufficient quantities for internal consumption; but plunder is the chief pursuit throughout this land, in which the lordly Chauhan and the Koli menial vie in dexterity. Wherever the soil is least calculated for agriculture, there is often abundance of fine pasture, especially for camels, which browse upon a variety of thorny shrubs. Sheep and goats are also in great numbers, and bullocks and horses of a very good description, which find a ready sale at the Tilwara fair.
Inhabitants.
—We must describe the descendants, whether of the Malli, foe of Alexander, or of the no less heroic Prithiraj, as a community of thieves, who used to carry their raids into Sind, Gujarat, and Marwar, to avenge themselves on private property for the wrongs they suffered from the want of all government, or the oppression of those (Jodhpur) who asserted supremacy over, and the right to plunder them. All classes are to be found in the Chauhan raj: but those predominate, the names of whose tribes are synonyms for ‘robber,’ as the Sahariya, Khosa, Koli, Bhil. Although the Chauhan is lord-paramount, a few of whom are to be found in every village, yet the Koli and Bhil tribe, with another class called Pital,
are the most numerous: the last named, though equally low in caste, is the only industrious class in this region. Besides cultivation, they make a trade of the gums, which they collect in great quantities from the various trees whose names have been already mentioned. The Chauhans,
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like most of these remote Rajput tribes, dispense with the
zunnar
or
janeo
, the distinctive thread of a ‘twice-born tribe,’ and are altogether free from [308] the prejudices of those whom association with Brahmans has bound down with chains of iron. But to make amends for this laxity in ceremonials, there is a material amendment in their moral character, in comparison with the Chauhans of the
purab
(east); for here the unnatural law of infanticide is unknown, in spite of the examples of their neighbours, the Jarejas, amongst whom it prevails to the most frightful extent. In eating, they have no prejudices; they make no
chauka
, or fireplace; their cooks are generally of the barber (
Nai
) tribe, and what is left at one meal, they, contrary to all good manners, tie up and eat at the next.
Kolis and Bhils.
—The first is the most numerous class in these regions, and may be ranked with the most degraded portion of the human species. Although they
puja
all the symbols of Hindu worship, and chiefly the terrific Mata, they scoff at all laws, human or divine, and are little superior to the brutes of their own forests. To them every thing edible is lawful food; cows, buffaloes, the camel, deer, hog; nor do they even object to such as have died a natural death. Like the other debased tribes, they affect to have Rajput blood, and call themselves Chauhan Koli, Rathor Koli, Parihar Koli, etc., which only tends to prove their illegitimate descent from the aboriginal Koli stock. Almost all the cloth-weavers throughout India are of the Koli class, though they endeavour to conceal their origin under the term Julaha, which ought only to distinguish the Muslim weaver.
The Bhils partake of all the vices of the Kolis, and perhaps descend one step lower in the scale of humanity; for they will feed on vermin of any kind, foxes, jackals, rats, guanas,
and snakes; and although they make an exception of the camel and the pea-fowl, the latter being sacred to Mata, the goddess they propitiate, yet in moral degradation their fellowship is complete. The Kolis and Bhils have no matrimonial intercourse, nor will they even eat with each other—such is caste! The bow
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and arrow form their arms, occasionally swords, but rarely the matchlock.
Pital is the chief husbandman of this region, and, with the Bania, the only respectable class. They possess flocks, and are also cultivators, and are said to be almost as numerous as either the Bhils or Kolis. The Pital is reputed synonymous with the Kurmi of Hindustan and the Kulambi of Malwa and the Deccan. There are other tribes, such as the Rabari, or rearer of camels, who will be described with the classes appertaining to the whole desert.
Dhāt and Umrasūmra.
—We now take leave of Rajputana, as it is, for the desert depending upon Sind, or that space between the frontier of Rajputana to the valley [309] of the Indus, on the west, and from Daudputra north, to Baliari on the Rann.
This space measures about two hundred and twenty miles of longitude, and its greatest breadth is eighty; it is one entire
thal
, having but few villages, though there are many hamlets of shepherds sprinkled over it, too ephemeral to have a place in the map. A few of these
puras
and
vas
, as they are termed, where the springs are perennial, have a name assigned to them, but to multiply them would only mislead, as they exist no longer than the vegetation. The whole of this tract may be characterized as essentially desert, having spaces of fifty miles without a drop of water, and without great precaution, impassable. The sandhills rise into little mountains, and the wells are so deep, that with a large kafila, many might die before the thirst of all could be slaked. The enumeration of a few of these will put the reader in possession of one of the difficulties of a journey through Maru; they range from eleven to seventy-five
pursa
, or seventy to five hundred feet in depth. One at Jaisinghdesar, fifty
pursa
; Dhot-ki-basti, sixty; Girab, sixty; Hamirdeora, seventy; Jinjiniali, seventy-five; Chailak, seventy-five to eighty.
The Horrors of Humāyūn’s March.
—In what vivid colours does the historian Ferishta describe the miseries of the fugitive emperor, Humayun, and his faithful followers, at one of these wells! “The country through which they fled being an entire desert of sand, the Moguls were in the utmost distress for water: some ran mad; others fell down dead. For three whole days
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there was no water; on the fourth day they came to a well, which was so deep that a drum was beaten, to give notice to the man driving the bullocks, that the bucket had reached the top; but the unhappy followers were so impatient for drink, that, so soon as the first bucket appeared, several threw themselves upon it, before it had quite reached the surface, and fell in. The next day, they arrived at a brook, and the camels, which had not tasted water for several days, were allowed to quench their thirst; but, having drunk to excess, several of them died. The king, after enduring unheard-of miseries, at length reached Omurkote with only a few attendants. The Raja, who has the title of Rana, took compassion on his misfortunes, and spared nothing that could alleviate his sufferings, or console him in his distress.”—Briggs’
Ferishta
, vol. ii. p. 93.
We are now in the very region where Humayun suffered these miseries, and in its chief town, Umarkot, Akbar, the greatest monarch India ever knew, first saw the light. Let us throw aside the veil which conceals the history of the race of Humayun’s protector, and notwithstanding he is now but nominal sovereign of Umarkot, and lord [310] of the village of Chor,[14] give him “a local habitation and a name,” even in the days of the Macedonian invader of India.
Dhāt.
—Dhat,
of which Umarkot is the capital, was one of the divisions of Marusthali, which from time immemorial was subject to the Pramar. Amongst the thirty-five tribes of this the most numerous of the races called Agnikula, were the Sodha, the Umar, and the Sumra;
and the conjunction of the two last has given a distinctive appellation to the more northern
thal
, still known as Umarsumra, though many centuries have fled since they possessed any power.
Aror, Umarsūmra.
—Aror, of which we have already narrated
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the discovery, and which is laid down in the map about six miles east of Bakhar on the Indus, was in the region styled Umarsumra, which may once have had a much wider acceptation, when a dynasty of thirty-six princes of the Sumra tribe ruled all these countries during five hundred years.
On the extinction of its power, and the restoration of their ancient rivals, the Sind-Samma princes, who in their turn gave way to the Bhattis, this tract obtained the epithet of Bhattipoh; but the ancient and more legitimate name, Umarsumra, is yet recognized, and many hamlets of shepherds, both of Umars and Sumras, are still existing amidst its sandhills. To them we shall return, after discussing their elder brethren, the Sodhas. We can trace the colonization of the Bhattis, the Chawaras, and the Solankis, the Guhilots, and the Rathors, throughout all these countries, both of central and western Rajputana; and wherever we go, whatever new capital is founded, it is always on the site of a Pramar establishment.
Pirthi tain na Pramar ka
, or ‘the world is the Pramars,’
I may here repeat, is hardly hyperbolical when applied to the Rajput world.
Aror.
—Aror, or Alor as written by Abu-l Fazl, and described by that celebrated geographer, Ibn-Haukal, as “rivalling Multan in greatness,” was one of the ‘nine divisions of Maru’ governed by the Pramar, of which we must repeat, one of the chief branches was the Sodha. The islandic Bakhar, or Mansura (so named by the lieutenant of the Khalif Al-Mansur), a few miles west of Aror, is considered as the capital of the Sogdoi, when Alexander sailed down the Indus,
and if we couple the similarity of name to the well-authenticated fact of immemorial sovereignty over this region, it might not be drawing too largely on credulity to suggest that the Sogdoi and Soda are one and [311] the same.
The Sodha
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princes were the patriarchs of the desert when the Bhattis immigrated thither from the north: but whether they deprived them of Aror as well as Lodorva, the chronicle does not intimate. It is by no means unlikely that the Umars and Sumras, instead of being coequal or coeval branches with the Sodha, may be merely subdivisions of them.
We may follow Abu-l Fazl and Ferishta in their summaries of the history of ancient Sind, and these races. The former says: “In former times, there lived a Rāja named Siharas, whose capital was Alor. His sway extended eastward, as far as Kashmīr and towards the sea to Mekrān, while the sea confined it on the south and the mountains to the north. An invading army entered the country from Persia, in opposing which the Rāja lost his life. The invaders, contenting themselves with devastating part of the territory, returned. Rāē Sahi,[21] the Rāja’s son, succeeded his 1285father, by whose enlightened wisdom and the aid of his intelligent minister Rām, justice was universally administered and the repose of the country secured.... In the caliphate of Walīd bin Abdu’l Malik, when Hajjāj was governor of Irāk, he dispatched on his own authority Muhammad Kāsim, his cousin and son-in-law, to Sind, who fought Dāhir in several engagements.... After Muhammad Kāsim’s death, the sovereignty of this country devolved on the descendants of the Banu Tamīm Ansāri. They were succeeded by the Sūmrah race, who established their rule, and were followed by the Sammas, who asserted their descent from Jamshīd, and each of them assumed the name of Jām.”[22]
Ferishta gives a similar version. “On the death of Mahomed Kasim, a tribe who trace their origin from the Ansarias established a government in Sind; after which the zamindars [lords of the soil or indigenous chiefs], denominated in their country Soomura, usurped the power, and held independent rule over the kingdom of Sinde for the space of five hundred years. These [312], the Soomuras, subverted the country of another dynasty called Soomuna [the Samma of Abu-l Fazl], whose chief assumed the title of Jam.”[23]
The difficulty of establishing the identity of these tribes from the cacography of both the Greek and Persian writers, is well exemplified in another portion of Ferishta, treating of the same race, called by him Soomuna, and Samma by Abu-l Fazl. “The tribe of Sahna appears to be of obscure origin, and originally to have occupied the tract lying between Bekher and Tatta in Sinde, and pretend to trace their origin from Jemshid.” We can pardon his spelling for his exact location of the tribe, which, whether written Soomuna, Sehna, or Seemeh, is the Summa or Samma tribe of the great Yadu race, whose capital was Summa-ka-kot, or Sammanagari, converted into Minnagara, and its princes into Sambas, by the Greeks.[24] Thus the Sodhas appear to have ruled 1286at Aror and Bakhar, or Upper Sind, and the Sammas in the lower,[25] when Alexander passed through this region. The Jarejas and Jams of Navanagar in Saurashtra claim descent from the Sammas, hence called elsewhere by Abu-l Fazl “the Sind-Samma dynasty”; but having been, from their amalgamation with the ‘faithful,’ put out of the pale of Hinduism, they desired to conceal their Samma-Yadu descent, which they abandoned for Jamshid, and Samma was converted into Jam.[26]
We may, therefore, assume that a prince of the Sodha tribe held that division of the great Puar sovereignty, of which Aror, or the insular Bakhar, was the capital, when Alexander passed down the Indus: nor is it improbable that the army, styled Persian by Abu-l Fazl, which invaded Aror, and slew Raja Siharas, was a Graeco-Bactrian army led by Apollodotus, or Menander, who traversed this region, “ruled by Sigertides” (qu. Raja Siharas?) even to “the country of the Σῶρα,” or Saurashtra,[27] where, according to their historian, their medals were existent when he wrote in the second century.[28] The histories so largely quoted give us decided proof that Dahir, and his son [313] Raesa, the victims of the first Islamite invasion led by Kasim, were of the same lineage as Raja 1287Siharas; and the Bhatti annals prove to demonstration, that at this, the very period of their settling in the desert, the Sodha tribe was paramount (see p. 1185); which, together with the strong analogies in names of places and princes, affords a very reasonable ground for the conclusion we have come to, that the Sodha tribe of Puar race was in possession of Upper Sind, when the Macedonian passed down the stream; and that, amidst all the vicissitudes of fortune, it has continued (contesting possession with its ancient Yadu antagonist, the Samma) to maintain some portion of its ancient sovereignty unto these days. Of this portion we shall now instruct the reader, after hazarding a passing remark on the almost miraculous tenacity which has preserved this race in its desert abode during a period of at least two thousand two hundred years,[29] bidding defiance to foreign foes, whether Greek, Bactrian, or Muhammadan, and even to those visitations of nature, famines, pestilence, and earthquakes, which have periodically swept over the land, and at length rendered it the scene of desolation it now presents; for in this desert, as in that of Egypt, tradition records that its increase has been and still is progressive, as well in the valley of the Indus as towards the Jumna.
Umarkot.
—This stronghold (
kot
) of the Umars, until a very few years back, was the capital of the Sodha Raj, which extended, two centuries ago, into the valley of Sind, and east to the Luni; but the Rathors of Marwar, and the family at present ruling Sind, have together reduced the sovereignty of the Sodhas to a very confined spot, and thrust out of Umarkot (the last of the nine castles of Maru) the descendant of Siharas, who, from Aror, held dominions extending from Kashmir to the ocean. Umarkot has sadly fallen from its ancient grandeur, and instead of the five thousand houses it contained during the opulence of the Sodha princes, it hardly reckons two hundred and fifty houses, or rather huts.
The old castle is to the north-west of the town. It is
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built of brick, and the bastions, said to be eighteen in number, are of stone. It has an inner citadel, or rather a fortified palace. There is an old canal to the north of the fort, in which water still lodges part of the year. When Raja Man [314] had possession of Umarkot, he founded several villages thereunto, to keep up the communication. The Talpuris then found it to their interest, so long as they had any alarms from their own lord paramount of Kandahar, to court the Rathor prince; but when civil war appeared in that region, as well as in Marwar, the cessation of all fears from the one, banished the desire of paying court to the other, and Umarkot was unhappily placed between the Kalhoras of Sind and the Rathors, each of whom looked upon this frontier post as the proper limit of his sway, and contended for its possession. We shall therefore give an account of a feud between these rivals, which finally sealed the fate of the Sodha prince, and which may contribute something to the history of the ruling family of Sind, still imperfectly known.
The Fate of the Sodha Tribe. Assassination of Mīr Bijar.
—When Bijai Singh ruled Marwar, Miyan Nur Muhammad, Kalhora, governed Sind; but being expelled by an army from Kandahar, he fled to Jaisalmer, where he died. The eldest son, Antar Khan, and his brothers, found refuge with Bahadur Khan Khairani; while a natural brother, named Ghulam Shah, born of a common prostitute, found means to establish himself on the masnad at Haidarabad. The chiefs of Daudputra espoused the cause of Antar Khan, and prepared to expel the usurper. Bahadur Khan, Sabzal Khan, Ali Murad, Muhammad Khan, Kaim Khan, Ali Khan, chiefs of the Khairani tribe, united, and marched with Antar Khan to Haidarabad. Ghulam Shah advanced to meet him, and the brothers encountered at Ubaura
(see
map
); but legitimacy failed: the Khairani chiefs almost all perished, and Antar Khan was made prisoner, and confined for life in Gaja-ka-kot, an island in the Indus, seven coss south of Haidarabad. Ghulam Shah transmitted his masnad to his son Sarfaraz, who, dying soon after, was succeeded by Abdul Nabi. At the town of Abhaipura, seven coss east of Sheodadpur (a town in Lohri Sind), resided a chieftain of the Talpuri tribe, a branch of the Baloch, named Goram, who had two sons, named Bijar and Sobhdan. Sarfaraz demanded Goram’s daughter to wife; he was refused,
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and the whole family was destroyed. Bijar Khan, who alone escaped the massacre, raised his clan to avenge him, deposed the tyrant, and placed himself upon the masnad of Haidarabad. The Kalhoras dispersed; but Bijar, who was of a violent and imperious temperament, became involved in hostilities with the Rathors regarding the possession of Umarkot. It is asserted that he not only demanded tribute from Marwar, but a daughter of the Rathor prince, to wife, setting forth as a precedent his grandfather Ajit, who bestowed a wife on Farrukhsiyar. This insult led to a pitched battle, fought at Dugara, five coss from Dharnidhar, in which the Baloch [315] army was fairly beaten from the field by the Rathor; but Bijai Singh, not content with his victory, determined to be rid of this thorn in his side. A Bhatti and Chondawat offered their services, and lands being settled on their families, they set out on this perilous enterprise in the garb of ambassadors. When introduced to Bijar, he arrogantly demanded if the Raja had thought better of his demand, when the Chondawat referred him to his credentials. As Bijar rapidly ran his eye over it, muttering “no mention of the
dola
(bride),” the dagger of the Chondawat was buried in his heart. “This for the
dola
,” he exclaimed; and “this for the tribute,” said his comrade, as he struck another blow. Bijar fell lifeless on his cushion of state, and the assassins, who knew escape was hopeless, plied their daggers on all around; the Chondawat slaying twenty-one, and the Bhatti five, before they were hacked to pieces.
The nephew of Bijar Khan, by name Fateh Ali, son of Sobhdan, was chosen his successor, and the old family of Kalhora was dispersed to Bhuj, and Rajputana, while its representative repaired to Kandahar. There the Shah put him at the head of an army of twenty-five thousand men, with which he reconquered Sind, and commenced a career of unexampled cruelty. Fateh Ali, who had fled to Bhuj, reassembled his adherents, attacked the army of the Shah, which he defeated and pursued with great slaughter beyond Shikarpur, of which he took possession, and returned in triumph to Haidarabad. The cruel and now humbled Kalhora once more appeared before the Shah, who, exasperated at the inglorious result of his arms, drove him from his presence; and after wandering
1290
about, he passed from Multan to Jaisalmer, settling at length at Pokaran, where he died. The Pokaran chief made himself his heir, and it is from the great wealth (chiefly in jewels) of the ex-prince of Sind that its chiefs have been enabled to take the lead in Marwar. The tomb of the exile is on the north side of the town [316].
This episode, which properly belongs to the history of Marwar, or to Sind, is introduced for the purpose of showing the influence of the latter on the destinies of the Sodha princes. It was by Bijar, who fell by the emissaries of Bijai Singh, that the Sodha Raja was driven from Umarkot, the possession of which brought the Sindis into immediate collision with the Bhattis and Rathors. But on his assassination and the defeat of the Sind army on the Rann, Bijai Singh reinducted the Sodha prince to his gaddi of Umarkot; not, however, long to retain it, for on the invasion from Kandahar, this poor country underwent a general massacre and pillage by the Afghans, and Umarkot was assaulted and taken. When Fateh Ali made head against the army of Kandahar, which he was enabled to defeat, partly by the aid of the Rathors, he 1291relinquished, as the price of this aid, the claims of Sind upon Umarkot, of which Bijai Singh took possession, and on whose battlements the flag of the Rathors waved until the last civil war, when the Sindis expelled them. Had Raja Man known how to profit by the general desire of his chiefs to redeem this distant possession, he might have got rid of some of the unquiet spirits by other means than those which have brought infamy on his name.
Chor.
—Since Umarkot has been wrested from the Sodhas, the expelled prince, who still preserves his title of Rana, resides at the town of Chor, fifteen miles north-east of his former capital. The descendant of the princes who probably opposed Alexander, Menander, and Kasim, the lieutenant of Walid, and who sheltered Humayun when driven from the throne of India, now subsists on the eleemosynary gifts of those with whom he is connected by marriage, or the few patches of land of his own desert domain left him by the rulers of Sind. He has eight brothers, who are hardly pushed for a subsistence, and can only obtain it by the supplement to all the finances of these States, plunder.
The Sodha, and the Jareja, are the connecting links between the Hindu and the Muslim; for although the farther west we go the greater is the laxity of Rajput prejudice, yet to something more than mere locality must be attributed the denationalized sentiment which allows the Sodha to intermarry with a Sindi: this cause is hunger; and there are few zealots who will deny that its influence is more potent than the laws of Manu. Every third year brings famine, and those who have not stored up against it fly to their neighbours, and chiefly to the valley of the Indus. The [317] connexions they then form often end in the union of their daughters with their protectors; but they still so far adhere to ancient usage as never to receive back into the family caste a female so allied.[34] The present Rana of the Sodhas has set the example, by giving daughters to Mir Ghulam Ali and Mir Sohrab, and even to the Khosa chief of Dadar; and in consequence, his brother princes of Jaisalmer, Bah and Parkar, though they will 1292accept a Sodha princess to wife (because they can depend on the purity of her blood), yet will not bestow a daughter on the Rana, whose offspring might perhaps grace the harem of a Baloch. But the Rathors of Marwar will neither give to nor receive daughters of Dhat. The females of this desert region, being reputed very handsome, have become almost an article of matrimonial traffic; and it is asserted, that if a Sindi hears of the beauty of a Dhatiani, he sends to her father as much grain as he deems an equivalent, and is seldom refused her hand. We shall not here further touch on the manners or other peculiarities of the Sodha tribe, though we may revert to them in the general outline of the tribes, with which we shall conclude the sketch of the Indian desert.
Tribes.
—The various tribes inhabiting the desert and valley of the Indus would alone form an ample subject of investigation, which would, in all probability, elicit some important truths. Amongst the converts to Islam the inquirer into the pedigree of nations would discover names, once illustrious, but which, now hidden under the mantle of a new faith, might little aid his researches into the history of their origin. He would find the Sodha, the Kathi, the Mallani, affording in history, position, and nominal resemblance grounds for inferring that they are the descendants of the Sogdoi, Kathi, and Malloi, who opposed the Macedonian in his passage down the Indus; besides swarms of Getae or Yuti, many of whom have assumed the general title of Baloch, or retain the ancient specific name of Numri; while others, in that of Zj’at [Jat], preserve almost the primitive appellation. We have also the remains of those interesting races the Johyas and Dahyas, of which much has been said in the Annals of Jaisalmer, and elsewhere; who, as well as the Getae or Jats, and Huns, hold places amongst the “Thirty-six Royal Races” of ancient India.
These, with the Barahas and the Lohanas, tribes who swarmed a few centuries ago in the Panjab, will now only be discerned in small numbers in “the region of death,” which has even preserved the illustrious name of Kaurava, Krishna’s foe in the Bharat. The Sahariya, or great robber of our western desert, would alone afford a text for discussion on his habits [318] and his raids, as the enemy of all society. But we shall begin with those who yet retain any pretensions to the name of Hindu (distinguishing them from the proselytes to Islam), and afterwards descant upon their
1293
peculiarities. Bhatti, Rathor, Jodha, Chauhan, Mallani, Kaurava, Johya, Sultana, Lohana, Arora, Khumra, Sindhal, Maisuri, Vaishnavi, Jakhar, Asaich, Punia.
Of the Muhammadan there are but two, Kalhora and Sahariya, concerning whose origin any doubt exists, and all those we are about to specify are Nayyads,[36] or proselytes chiefly from Rajput or other Hindu tribes:
Zjat; Rajar; Umra; Sumra; Mair, or Mer; Mor, or Mohor; Baloch; Lumria, or Luka; Samaicha; Mangalia; Bagria; Dahya; Johya; Kairui; Jangaria; Undar; Berawi; Bawari; Tawari; Charandia; Khosa; Sadani; Lohanas.
The Nayyāds.
—Before we remark upon the habits of these tribes, we may state one prominent trait which characterizes the Nayyad, or convert to Islam, who, on parting with his original faith, divested himself of its chief moral attribute, toleration, and imbibed a double portion of the bigotry of the creed he adopted. Whether it is to the intrinsic quality of the Muhammadan faith that we are to trace this moral metamorphosis, or to a sense of degradation (which we can hardly suppose) consequent on his apostasy, there is not a more ferocious or intolerant being on the earth than the Rajput convert to Islam. In Sind, and the desert, we find the same tribes, bearing the same name, one still Hindu, the other Muhammadan; the first retaining his primitive manners, while the convert is cruel, intolerant, cowardly, and inhospitable. Escape, with life at least, perhaps a portion of property, is possible from the hands of the Maldot, the Larkhani, the Bhatti, or even the Tawaris, distinctively called “the sons of the devil”; but from the Khosas, the Sahariyas, or Bhattis, there would be no hope of salvation. Such are their ignorance and brutality, that should a stranger make use of the words
rassa
, or
rasta
(rope, and road), he will be fortunate if he escape with bastinado from these beings, who discover therein an analogy to
rasul
, or ‘the prophet’: he must for the former use the words
kilbar
,
randori
, and for the latter,
dagra
, or
dag
.
It will not fail to strike those who have
1294
perused the heart-thrilling adventures of Park, Denham, and Clapperton—names which will live for ever in the annals of discovery—how completely the inoffensive, kind, and hospitable negro resembles in these qualities the Rajput, who is transformed into a wild beast the moment he can repeat, “Ashhadu an lā ilāha illa allāh! [319] Ashhadu anna Muhammad rasūlu-llāh,” “there is but one God, and Muhammad is the prophet of God”: while a remarkable change has taken place amongst the Tatar tribes, since the anti-destructive doctrines of Buddha (or Hinduism purified of polytheism) have been introduced into the regions of Central Asia.
On the Bhattis, the Rathors, the Chauhans, and their offset the Mallani, we have sufficiently expatiated, and likewise on the Sodha; but a few peculiarities of this latter tribe remain to be noticed.
The Sodha Tribe.
—The Sodha, who has retained the name of Hindu, has yet so far discarded ancient prejudice, that he will drink from the same vessel and smoke out of the same
hukka
with a Musalman, laying aside only the tube that touches the mouth. With his poverty, the Sodha has lost his reputation for courage, retaining only the merit of being a dexterous thief, and joining the hordes of Sahariyas and Khosas who prowl from Daudputra to Gujarat. The arms of the Sodhas are chiefly the sword and shield, with a long knife in the girdle, which serves either as a stiletto or a carver for his meat: few have matchlocks, but the primitive sling is a general weapon of offence, and they are very expert in its use. Their dress partakes of the Bhatti and Muhammadan costume, but the turban is peculiar to themselves, and by it a Sodha may always be recognized. The Sodha is to be found scattered over the desert, but there are offsets of his tribe, now more numerous than the parent stock, of which the Samecha is the most conspicuous, whether of those who are still Hindu, or who have become converts to Islam.
The Kaurava Tribe.
—This singular tribe of Rajputs, whose habits, even in the midst of pillage, are entirely nomadic, is to be found chiefly in the
thal
of Dhat, though in no great numbers.
They have no fixed habitations, but move about with their flocks, and encamp wherever they find a spring or pasture for their cattle; and there construct temporary huts of the wide-spreading
1295
pilu
,
by interlacing its living branches, covering the top with leaves, and coating the inside with clay: in so skilful a manner do they thus shelter themselves that no sign of human habitation is observable from without. Still the roaming Sahariya is always on the look-out for these sylvan retreats, in which the shepherds deposit their little hoards of grain, raised from the scanty patches around them. The restless disposition of the Kauravas, who even among their ever-roaming brethren enjoy a species of fame in this respect, is attributed (said my Dhati) to a curse entailed upon them from remote ages. They rear camels, cows, buffaloes, and goats, which they sell to the Charans and other merchants. They are altogether a singularly peaceable race; and like all their Rajput brethren, can at will [320] people the desert with palaces of their own creation, by the delightful
amal-pani
, the universal panacea for ills both moral and physical.
The Dhāti Tribe.
—Dhat, or Dhati, is another Rajput, inhabiting Dhat, and in no greater numbers than the Kauravas, whom they resemble in their habits, being entirely pastoral, cultivating a few patches of land, and trusting to the heavens alone to bring it forward. They barter the
ghi
or clarified butter, made from the produce of their flocks, for grain and other necessaries of life.
Rabri
and
chhachh
, or ‘porridge and buttermilk,’ form the grand fare of the desert. A couple of sers of flour of bajra, juar, and khejra is mixed with some sers of
chhachh
, and exposed to the fire, but not boiled, and this mess will suffice for a large family. The cows of the desert are much larger than those of the plains of India, and give from eight to ten sers (eight or ten quarts) of milk daily. The produce of four cows will amply subsist a family of ten persons from the sale of
ghi
; and their prices vary with their productive powers, from ten to fifteen rupees each. The
rabri
, so analogous to the
kouskous
of the African desert, is often made with camel’s milk, from which
ghi
cannot be extracted, and which soon becomes a living mass when put aside. Dried fish, from the valley of Sind, is conveyed into the desert on horses or camels, and finds a ready sale amongst all classes, even as far east as Barmer. It is sold at two
dukras
(coppers) a ser. The
puras
, or temporary hamlets of the Dhatis, consisting at most of ten huts in each, resemble those of the Kauravas.
The Lohāna Tribe.
—This tribe is numerous both in Dhat and
1296
Talpura: formerly they were Rajputs, but betaking themselves to commerce, have fallen into the third class. They are scribes and shopkeepers, and object to no occupation that will bring a subsistence; and as to food, to use the expressive idiom of this region, where hunger spurns at law, “excepting their cats and their cows, they will eat anything.”
The Arora Tribe.
—This class, like the former, apply themselves to every pursuit, trade, and agriculture, and fill many of the inferior offices of government in Sind, being shrewd, industrious, and intelligent. With the thrifty Arora and many other classes, flour steeped in cold water suffices to appease hunger. Whether this class has its name from being an inhabitant of Aror, we know not.
The Bhātia Tribe.
—Bhatia is also one of the equestrian order converted into the commercial, and the exchange has been to his advantage. His habits are like those of the Arora, next to whom he ranks as to activity and wealth. The Aroras and Bhatias have commercial houses at Shikarpur, Haidarabad, and even at Surat and Jaipur [321].
Brāhmans.
—Bishnoi is the most common sect of Brahmans in the desert and Sind. The doctrines of Manu with them go for as much as they are worth in the desert, where “they are a law unto themselves.” They wear the
janeo
, or badge of their tribe, but it here ceases to be a mark of clerical distinction, as no drones are respected; they cultivate, tend cattle, and barter their superfluous
ghi
for other necessaries. They are most numerous in Dhat, having one hundred of their order in Chor, the residence of the Sodha Rana, and several houses in Umarkot, Dharnas, and Mitti.
They do not touch fish or smoke tobacco, but will eat food dressed by the hands of a Mali (gardener), or even a Nai (barber caste); nor do they use the
chauka
, or fireplace, reckoned
1297
indispensable in more civilized regions. Indeed, all classes of Hindus throughout Sind will partake of food dressed in the sarai, or inn, by the hands of the Bhathiyarin. They use indiscriminately each other’s vessels, without any process of purification but a little sand and water. They do not even burn their dead, but bury them near the threshold; and those who can afford it, raise small
chabutras
, or altars, on which they place an image of Siva, and a
ghara
, or jar of water. The
janeo
, or thread which marks the sacerdotal character in Hindustan, is common in these regions to all classes, with the exception of Kolis and Lohanas. This practice originated with their governors, in order to discriminate them from those who have to perform the most servile duties.
The Rabāri Tribe.
—This term is known throughout Hindustan only as denoting persons employed in rearing and tending camels, who are there always Muslims. Here they are a distinct tribe, and Hindus, employed entirely in rearing camels, or in stealing them, in which they evince a peculiar dexterity, uniting with the Bhattis in the practice as far as Daudputra. When they come upon a herd grazing, the boldest and most experienced strikes his lance into the first he reaches, then dips a cloth in the blood, which at the end of his lance he thrusts close to the nose of the next, and wheeling about, sets off at speed, followed by the whole herd, lured by the scent of blood and the example of their leader.
Jat Tribes.
—Jakhar, Asaich, Punia are all denominations of the Jat race, a few of whom preserve under these ancient subdivisions their old customs and religion; but the greater part are among the converts to Islam, and retain the generic name, pronounced Zjat. Those enumerated are harmless and industrious, and are found both in the desert and valley. There are besides these a few scattered families of ancient tribes [322], as the Sultana
and Khumra, of whose history we are ignorant,
1298
Johyas, Sindhals, and others, whose origin has already been noticed in the Annals of Marusthali.
We shall now leave this general account of the Hindu tribes, who throughout Sind are subservient to the will of the Muhammadan, who is remarkable, as before observed, for intolerance. The Hindu is always second: at the well, he must wait patiently until his tyrant has filled his vessel; or if, in cooking his dinner, a Muslim should require fire, it must be given forthwith, or the shoe would be applied to the Hindu’s head.
The Sahariya Tribe.
—The Sahariya is the most numerous of the Muhammadan tribes of the desert, said to be Hindu in origin, and descendants of the ancient dynasty of Aror; but whether his descent is derived from the dynasty of Siharas (written Sahir by Pottinger), or from the Arabic word
sahra
, ‘a desert,’ of which he is the terror, is of very little moment.
The Khosa Tribe.
—The Kosas or Khosas, etc., are branches of the Sahariya, and their habits are the same. They have reduced their mode of rapine to a system, and established
kuri
, or blackmail, consisting of one rupee and five
daris
of grain for every plough, exacted even from the hamlets of the shepherds throughout the
thal
. Their bands are chiefly mounted on camels, though some are on horseback; their arms are the
sel
or
sang
(lances of bamboo or iron), the sword and shield, and but few firearms. Their depredations used to be extended a hundred coss around, even into Jodhpur and Daudputra, but they eschew coming in contact with the Rajput, who says of a Sahariya, “he is sure to be asleep when the battle
nakkara
beats.” Their chief abode is in the southern portion of the desert; and about Nawakot, Mitti, as far as Baliari.
Many of them used to find service at Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Suigam, but they are cowardly and faithless.
The Samaicha Tribe.
—Samaicha is one of the
nayyad
, or proselytes to Islam from the Sodha race, and numerous both in the
thal
and the valley, where they have many
puras
or hamlets. They resemble the Dhatis in their habits, but many of them associate with the Sahariyas, and plunder their brethren. They
1299
never shave or touch the hair of their heads, and consequently look more like brutes than human beings. They allow no animal to die of disease, but kill it when they think there are no hopes of recovery. The Samaicha women have the reputation of being great scolds, and never veil their faces [323].
The Rājar Tribe.
—They are said to be of Bhatti descent, and confine their haunts to the desert, or the borders of Jaisalmer, as at Ramgarh, Kiala, Jarela, etc.; and the
thal
between Jaisalmer and Upper Sind: they are cultivators, shepherds, and thieves, and are esteemed amongst the very worst of the converts to Muhammadanism.
The Umar Sūmra Tribe.
—Umars and Sumras are from the Pramar or Puar race, and are now chiefly in the ranks of the faithful, though a few are to be found in Jaisalmer and in the
thal
called after them; of whom we have already said enough.
The Kalhora, Tālpuri Tribes.
—Kalhora and Talpuri are tribes of celebrity in Sind, the first having furnished the late, and the other its present, dynasty of rulers; and though the one has dared to deduce its origin from the Abbasides of Persia, and the other has even advanced pretensions to descent from the Prophet, it is asserted that both are alike Baloch, who are said to be essentially Jat or Gete in origin. The Talpuris, who have their name from the town (
pura
) of palms (
tal
or
tar
), are said to amount to one-fourth of the population of Lori or Little Sind, which misnomer they affix to the dominion of Haidarabad. There are none in the
thal
.
Nūmri, Lūmri, or Lūka Tribe.
—This is also a grand subdivision of the Baloch race, and is mentioned by Abu-l Fazl as ranking next to the Kulmani, and being able to bring into the field three hundred cavalry and seven thousand infantry. Gladwin has rendered the name Nomurdy, and is followed by Rennel.
The Numris, or Lumris, also styled Luka, a still more familiar term for fox,
are likewise affirmed to be Jat in origin. What is the etymology of the generic term Baloch, which they have assumed,
1300
or whether they took it from, or gave it to, Baluchistan, some future inquirer into these subjects may discover.
The Zott[54] or Jat Tribe.—This very original race, far more numerous than perhaps all the Rajput tribes put together, still retains its ancient appellation throughout the whole of Sind, from the sea to Daudputra, but there are few or none in the thal. Their habits differ little from those who surround them. They are amongst the oldest converts to Islam.
The Mer, Mair Tribe.
—We should scarcely have expected to find a mountaineer (
mera
) in the valley of Sind, but their Bhatti origin sufficiently accounts for the term, as Jaisalmer is termed Mer.
The Mor, Mohor Tribe.
—Said to be also Bhatti in origin.
The Tāwari, Thori, or Tori Tribe.
—These engross the distinctive epithet of
bhut
, or ‘evil spirits,’ and the yet more emphatic title of ‘sons of the devil.’ Their origin is doubtful, but [324] they rank with the Bawariyas, Khengars, and other professional thieves scattered over Rajputana, who will bring you either your enemy’s head or the turban from it. They are found in the
thals
of Daudputra, Bijnot, Nok, Nawakot, and Udar. They are proprietors of camels, which they hire out, and also find employment as convoys to caravans.
Johya, Dahya, Mangalia Tribes.
—Once found amongst the Rajput tribes, now proselytes to Islam, but few in number either in the valley or the desert. There are also Bairawis, a class of Baloch, Khairawis, Jangrias, Undars, Bagrias, descended from the Pramar and Sankhla Rajputs, but not possessing, either in respect to numbers or other distinctive marks, any claims on our attention.
Dāūdputra, Bahāwalpur State.
—This petty State, though beyond the pale of Hinduism, yet being but a recent formation
1301
out of the Bhatti State of Jaisalmer, is strictly within the limits of Marusthali. Little is known regarding the family who founded it, and we shall therefore confine ourselves to this point, which is not adverted to by Mr. Elphinstone, who may be consulted for the interesting description of its prince, and his capital, Bahawalpur, during the halt of the embassy to Kabul.
Daud Khan, the founder of Daudputra, was a native of Shikarpur, west of the Indus, where he acquired too much power for a subject, and consequently drew upon himself the arms of his sovereign of Kandahar. Unable to cope with them, he abandoned his native place, passed his family and effects across the Indus, and followed them into the desert. The royal forces pursued, and coming up with him at Sutiala, Daud had no alternative but to surrender, or destroy the families who impeded his flight or defence. He acted the Rajput, and faced his foes; who, appalled at this desperate act, deemed it unwise to attack him, and retreated. Daud Khan, with his adherents, then settled in the kachhi, or flats of Sind, and gradually extended his authority into the thal. He was succeeded by Mubarik Khan; he, by his nephew Bahawal Khan, whose son is Sadik Muhammad Khan, the present lord of Bahawalpur, or Daudputra, a name applied both to the country and to its possessors, “the children of David.”[58] It was Mubarik who deprived the Bhattis of the district called Khadal, so often mentioned in the Annals of Jaisalmer, and whose chief town is Derawar, founded by Rawal Deoraj in the eighth century; and where the successor of Daud established his abode. Derawar was at that time inhabited by a branch of the Bhattis, broken off at a very early period, its chief holding the title of Rawal, and whose family since their expulsion have resided at Ghariala, belonging to Bikaner, on [325] an allowance of five rupees a day, granted by the conqueror. The capital of the “sons of David” was removed to the south bank of the Gara by Bahawal Khan (who gave it his name), to the site of an old 1302Bhatti city, whose name I could not learn. About thirty years ago[59] an army from Kandahar invaded Daudputra, invested and took Derawar, and compelled Bahawal Khan to seek protection with the Bhattis at Bikampur. A negotiation for its restoration took place, and he once more pledged his submission to the Abdali king, and having sent his son Mubarik Khan as a hostage and guarantee for the liquidation of the imposition, the army withdrew. Mubarik continued three years at Kabul, and was at length restored to liberty and made Khan of Bahawalpur, on attempting which he was imprisoned by his father, and confined in the fortress of Khangarh, where he remained nearly until Bahawal Khan’s death. A short time previous to this, the principal chiefs of Daudputra, namely, Badera Khairani, chief of Mozgarh, Khudabakhsh of Traihara, Ikhtiyar Khan of Garhi, and Haji Khan of Uchh, released Mubarik Khan from Khangarh and they had reached Murara, when tidings arrived of the death of Bahawal Khan. He continued his route to the capital; but Nasir Khan, son of Alam Khan, Gurgecha (Baloch), having formerly injured him and dreading punishment, had him assassinated, and placed his brother, the present chief, Sadik Muhammad, on the masnad: who immediately shut up his nephews, the sons of Mubarik, together with his younger brothers, in the fortress of Derawar. They escaped, raised a force of Rajputs and Purbias, and seized upon Derawar; but Sadik escaladed it, the Purbias made no defence [326], and both his brothers and one nephew were slain. The other nephew got over the wall, but was seized by a neighbouring chief, surrendered, and slain; and it is conjectured the whole was a plot of Sadik Khan to afford a pretext for their death. Nasir Khan, by whose instigation he obtained the masnad, was also put to death, being too powerful for a subject. But the Khairani lords have always been plotting against their liege; an instance of which has been given in the Annals of Bikaner, when Traihara and Mozgarh were confiscated, and the chiefs sent to the castle of Khangarh, the State prison of Daudputra. Garhi still belongs to Abdulla, son of Haji Khan, but no territory is annexed to it. Sadik Muhammad has not the reputation of his father, whom Bijai Singh, of Marwar, used to style his brother. The Daudputras are much at variance amongst each other, and detested by the Bhattis, from whom they have hitherto 1303exacted a tribute to abstain from plunder. The fear of Kandahar no longer exists at Bahawalpur, whose chief is on good terms with his neighbour of Upper Sind, though he is often alarmed by the threats of Ranjit Singh of Lahore, who asserts supremacy over “the children of David.”
Diseases.
—Of the numerous diseases to which the inhabitants of the desert are subjected, from poor and unwholesome diet, and yet more unwholesome drink,
rataundha
or night-blindness, the
narua
or Guinea-worm, and varicose veins, are the most common. The first and last are mostly confined to the poorer classes, and those who are compelled to walk a great deal, when the exertion necessary to extricate the limbs from deep sand, acting as a constant drag upon the elasticity of the fibres, occasions them to become ruptured. Yet such is the force of habit that the natives of Dhat in my service, who had all their lives been plying their limbs as kasids, or carriers of dispatches, between all the cities on the Indus and in Rajputana, complained of the firmer footing of the Indian plains, as more fatiguing than that of their native sandhills. But I never was a convert to the Dhati’s reasoning; with all his simplicity of character, even in this was there vanity, for his own swelled veins, which could be compared to nothing but rattans twisted round the calf of his limbs, if they did not belie his assertion, at least proved that he had paid dearly for his pedestrianism in the desert [327]. From the
narua
, or Guinea-worm, there is no exemption, from the prince to the peasant, and happy is the man who can boast of only one trial. The disease is not confined to the desert and western Rajputana, being far from uncommon in the central States; but beyond the Aravalli the question of “How is your
narua
?” is almost a general form of greeting, so numerous are the sufferers from this malady. It generally attacks the limbs and the integuments of the joints, when it is excruciating almost past endurance. Whether it arises from animalculae in sand or water, or porous absorption of minute particles imbued with the latent vital principle, the natives are not agreed. But the seat of the disease appears immediately under and adhesive to the skin, on which it at first produces a small speck, which, gradually increasing and swelling, at length reaches a state of inflammation that affects the whole system. The worm then begins to move, and as it attains the degree of vitality apparently necessary for extricating itself, its motions
1304
are unceasing, and night and day it gnaws the unhappy patient, who only exists in the hope of daily seeing the head of his enemy pierce the cuticle. This is the moment for action: the skilful
narua
-doctor is sent for, who seizes upon the head of the worm, and winding it round a needle or straw, employs it as a windlass, which is daily set in motion at a certain hour, when they wind out as much line as they can without the risk of breaking it. Unhappy the wretch whom this disaster befalls, when, happening to fall into a feverish slumber, he kicks the windlass, and snaps the living thread, which creates tenfold inflammation and suppuration. On the other hand, if by patience and skill it is extracted entire, he recovers. I should almost imagine, when the patriarch of Uz exclaims, “My flesh is clothed with worms: my skin is broken and become loathsome. When I lie down, I say, when shall I arise and the night be gone?” that he must have been afflicted with the
narua
, than which none of the ills that flesh is heir to can be more agonizing.
They have the usual infantine and adult diseases, as in the rest of India. Of these the sitala, or ‘smallpox,’ and the tijari, or ‘tertian,’ are the most common. For the first, they merely recommend the little patient to Sitala Mata; and treat the other with astringents in which infusion of the rind of the pomegranate is always (when procurable) an ingredient. The rich, as in other countries, are under the dominion of empirics, who entail worse diseases by administering mineral poisons, of whose effects they are ignorant. Enlargement of the spleen under the influence of these fevers is very common, and its cure is mostly the actual cautery.
Famines.
—Famine is, however, the grand natural disease of
1305
these regions, whose legendary stanzas teem with records of visitations of Bhukhi Mata, the ‘famished mother,’ from the remotest times. That which is best authenticated in the traditions of several of these States, occurred in the eleventh century, and continued during twelve years! It is erroneously connected with the name of Lakha Phulani, who was the personal foe of Siahji, the first Rathor emigrant from Kanauj, and who slew this Robin Hood of the desert in S. 1268 (
A.D.
1212). Doubtless the desiccation of the Ghaggar River, in the time of Hamir Sodha, nearly a century before, must have been the cause of this. Every third year they calculate upon a partial visitation, and in 1812 one commenced which lasted three or four years, extending even to the central States of India, when flocks of poor creatures found their way to the provinces on the Ganges, selling their infants, or parting with their own liberty, to sustain existence.
Productions, Animal and Vegetable.
—The camel, ‘the ship of the desert,’ deserves the first mention. There he is indispensable; he is yoked to the plough, draws water from the well [328], bears it for his lordly master in
mashaks
, or ‘skins,’ in the passage of the desert, and can dispense with it himself altogether during several days. This quality, the formation of his hoof, which has the property of contracting and expanding according to the soil, and the induration of his mouth, into which he draws by his tongue the branches of the
babul
, the
khair
, and
jawas
, with their long thorns, sharp and hard as needles, attest the beneficence of the Supreme Artist. It is singular that the Arabian patriarch, who so accurately describes the habits of various animals, domestic and ferocious, and who was himself lord of three thousand camels, should not have mentioned the peculiar properties of the camel, though in alluding to the incapacity of the unicorn (rhinoceros) for the plough, he seems indirectly to insinuate the use of others besides the ox for this purpose. The camels of the desert are far superior to those of the plains, and those bred in the
thals
of Dhat and Barmer are the best of all. The Rajas of Jaisalmer and Bikaner have corps of camels trained for war.
That of the
1306
former State is two hundred strong, eighty of which belong to the prince; the rest are the quotas of his chiefs; but how they are rated, or in what ratio to the horsemen of the other principalities, I never thought of inquiring. Two men are mounted on each camel, one facing the head, the other the rear, and they are famous in a retreating action: but when compelled to come to close quarters, they make the camel kneel down, tie his legs, and retiring behind, make a breastwork of his body, resting the matchlock over the pack-saddle. There is not a shrub in the desert that does not serve the camel for fodder.
The Wild Ass.
—Khar-gadha, Gorkhar, or the wild ass,
is an inhabitant of the desert, but most abounds in the southern part, about Dhat, and the deep
rui
which extends from Barmer to Bankasar and Baliari, along the north bank of the great Rann, or ‘salt desert.’
Rojh or Nilgae, Lions, etc.
—The noble species of the deer, the nilgae, is to be met with in numerous parts of the desert; and although it enjoys a kind of immunity from the Rajput of the plains, who may hunt, but do not eat its flesh, here, both for food and for its hide, it is of great use.
Of the other wild animals common to India they have the tiger, fox, jackal, hare, and also the nobler animal, the lion.
Domestic Animals.
—Of domestic animals, as horses, oxen, cows, sheep, goats, asses, there is no want, and even the last mentioned is made to go in the plough.
Flocks (here termed chang) of goats and sheep are pastured in vast numbers in the desert. It is asserted that the goat can subsist without water from the month of Karttik to the middle of Chait, the autumnal to the spring equinox [329]—apparently an impossibility: though it is well known that they can dispense with it during six weeks when the grasses are abundant. In the thals of Daudputra and Bhattipo, they remove to the flats of Sind in the commencement of the hot weather. The shepherds, 1307like their flocks, go without water, but find a substitute in the chhachh, or buttermilk, after extracting the butter, which is made into ghi, and exchanged for grain, or other necessaries. Those who pasture camels also live entirely upon their milk, and the wild fruits, scarcely ever tasting bread.
Shrubs and Fruits.
—We have often had occasion to mention the
khair
or
karil
; the
khejra
, whose pod converted, when dried, into flour, is called
sangri
; the
jhal
, which serves to hut the shepherds, and in Jeth and Raisakh affords them fruit; the
pilu
, used as food;
the
babul
, which yields its medicinal gum; the
ber
, or jujube, which also has a pleasant fruit; all of which serve the camel to browse on, and are the most common and most useful of the shrubs: the
jawas
, whose expressed juice yields a gum used in medicine; the
phog
, with whose twigs they line their wells; and the alkaline plant, the
sajji
, which they burn for its ashes. Of these, the first and last are worthy of a more detailed notice.
The karil, or khair (the capparis, or caper-bush), is well known both in Hindustan and the desert: there they use it as a pickle, but here it is stored up as a culinary article of importance. The bush is from ten to fifteen feet in height, spreading very wide; there are no leaves on its evergreen twig-like branches, which bear a red flower, and the fruit is about the size of a large black currant. When gathered, it is steeped for twenty-four hours in water, which is then poured off, and it undergoes, afterwards, two similar operations, when the deleterious properties are carried off; they are then boiled and eaten with a little salt, or by those who can afford it, dressed in ghi and eaten with bread. Many families possess a stock of twenty maunds.
The sajji is a low, bushy plant, chiefly produced in the northern desert, and most abundant in those tracts of Jaisalmer called Khadal, now subject to Daudputra. From Pugal to Derawar, and thence by Muridkot, Ikhtyar Khan-ki-garhi, to Khairpur (Dair Ali), is one extensive thal, or desert, in which there are very considerable tracts of low, hard flat, termed chittram,[66] formed by 1308the lodgment of water [330] after rain, and in these spots only is the sajji plant produced. The salt, which is a sub-carbonate of soda, is obtained by incineration, and the process is as follows: Pits are excavated and filled with the plant, which, when fired, exudes a liquid substance that falls to the bottom. While burning, they agitate the mass with long poles, or throw on sand if it burns too rapidly. When the virtue of the plant is extracted, the pit is covered with sand, and left for three days to cool; the alkali is then taken out, and freed from its impurities by some process. The purer product is sold at a rupee the ser (two pounds weight); of the other upwards of forty sers are sold for a rupee. Both Rajputs and Muhammadans pursue this employment, and pay a duty to the lord paramount of a copper pice on every rupee’s worth they sell. Charans and others from the towns of Marwar purchase and transport this salt to the different marts, whence it is distributed over all parts of India. It is a considerable article of commerce with Sind, and entire caravans of it are carried to Bakhar, Tatta, and Cutch. The virtue of the soda is well understood in culinary purposes, a little sajji added to the hard water soon softening the mess of pulse and rice preparing for their meals; and the tobacconists use considerable quantities in their trade, as it is said to have the power of restoring the lost virtues of the plant.
Grasses.
—Grasses are numerous, but unless accompanied by botanical illustration, their description would possess little interest. There is the gigantic
siwan
, or
siun
, classically known as the
kusa
, and said to have originated the name of Kusa, the second son of Rama, and his race the Kachhwaha. It is often eight feet in height; when young, it serves as provender for animals, and when more mature, as thatch for the huts, while its roots supply a fibre, converted by the weavers into brushes indispensable to their trade. There is likewise the
sarkanda
, the
dhaman
, the
duba
, and various others; besides the
gokhru
, the
1309
papri
, and the
bharut
, which adhering to their garments, are the torment of travellers.
Melons.
—Of the cucurbitaceous genus, indigenous to the desert, they have various kinds, from the gigantic
kharbuza
and the
chitra
, to the dwarf
guar
. The tomato, whose Indian name I have not preserved, is also a native of these regions, and well known in other parts of India.
We shall trespass no further with these details, than to add, that the botanical names of all such trees, shrubs, or grains, as occur in this work, will be given with the general
Index
, to avoid unnecessary repetition [331].
ITINERARY[69]
Jaisalmer to Sehwan, on the right bank of the Indus, and Haidarabad, and return by Umarkot to Jaisalmer
Kuldra (5 coss).—A village inhabited by Paliwal Brahmans; two hundred houses; wells.
Gajia-ki-basti (2 do.).—Sixty houses; chiefly Brahmans; wells.
Khaba (3 do.).—Three hundred houses; chiefly Brahmans; a small fort of four bastions on low hills, having a garrison of Jaisalmer.
Kanohi Sum (5 do.). (5 do.). }
—An assemblage of hamlets of four or five huts on one spot, about a mile distant from each other, conjointly called Sum, having a burj or tower for defence, garrisoned from Jaisalmer; several large wells, termed beria; inhabitants, chiefly Sindis of various tribes, pasture their flocks, and bring salt and khara (natron) from Deo Chandeswar, the latter used as a mordant in fixing colours, exported to all parts. Half-way between Sum and Mulana is the boundary of Jaisalmer and Sind.
1310Mulana[70] (24 coss).—A hamlet of ten huts; chiefly Sindis; situated amidst lofty sandhills. From Sum, the first half of the journey is over alternate sandhills, rocky ridges (termed magra), and occasionally plain; for the next three, rocky ridges and sandhills without any flats, and the remaining nine coss a succession of lofty tibas. In all this space of twenty-four coss there are no wells, nor is a drop of water to be had but after rain, when it collects in some old tanks or reservoirs, called nadi and taba, situated half-way, where in past times there was a town.
It is asserted, that before the Muhammadans conquered Sind and these regions, the valley and desert belonged to Rajput princes of the Pramar and Solanki tribes; that the whole thal (desert) was more or less inhabited, and the remains of old tanks and temples, notwithstanding the drifting of the sands, attest the fact. Tradition records a famine of twelve years’ duration during the time of Lakha Phulani, in the twelfth century, which depopulated the country, when the survivors of the thal fled to the kachhi, or flats of the Sind. There are throughout still many oases or cultivated patches, designated by the local terms from the [332] indispensable element, water, which whether springs or rivulets, are called wah, bah, beria, rar, tar, prefixed by the tribe of those pasturing, whether Sodhas, Rajars, or Samaichas. The inhabitants of one hamlet will go as far as ten miles to cultivate a patch.
Bhor Palri Rajar-ki-basti Hamlet of Rajars (2 do.). (3 do.). (2 do.). (2 do.).
These are all hamlets of about ten huts, inhabited by Rajars, who cultivate patches of land or pasture their flocks of buffaloes, cows, camels, goats, amidst the thal; at each of these hamlets there are plenty of springs; at Rajar-ki-basti there is a pool called Mahadeo-ka-dah. (See p. 1263 above.)
Deo Chandeswar Mahadeo (2 do.).—When the Sodha princes held sway in these regions, there was a town here, and a temple to Mahadeo, the ruins of which still exist, erected over a spring called Suraj kund, or fountain of the Sun. The Islamite destroyed the temple, and changed the name of the spring to 1311Dinbawa, or ‘waters of the faith.’ The kund is small, faced with brick, and has its margin planted with date trees and pomegranates, and a Mulla, or priest from Sind, resides there and receives tribute from the faithful. For twelve coss around this spot there are numerous springs of water, where the Rajars find pasture for their flocks, and patches to cultivate. Their huts are conical like the wigwams of the African, and formed by stakes tied at the apex and covered with grass and leaves, and often but a large blanket of camel’s hair stretched on stakes.
Chandia-ki-basti (2 coss).—Hamlet inhabited by Muslims of the Chandia tribe, mendicants who subsist on the charity of the traveller.
Rajar-ki-basti Samaicha-ki-do (2 do.). (2 do.).
Rajar Do. Do. Do. Do. Do. do. do. do. do. do. do. (2 do.). (2 do.). (2 do.). (2 do.). (2 do.). (2 do.).
Purwas, or hamlets of shepherds, Samaichas, Rajars, and others, who are all migratory, and shift with their flocks as they consume the pastures. There is plenty of water in this space for all their wants, chiefly springs.
Udhania (7 do.).—Twelve huts; no water between it and the last hamlet.
Nala (5 do.).—Descent from the thal or desert, which ceases a mile east of the nala or stream, said to be the same which issues from the Indus at Dara, above Rohri-Bakhar; thence it passes east of Sohrab’s Khairpur, and by Jinar to Bersia-ka-rar, whence there is a canal cut to Umarkot and Chor.
Mitrao (4 do.).—Village of sixty houses, inhabited by Baloch; a thana, or post here from Haidarabad; occasional low sandhills.
Mir-ki-kui (6 do.).—Three detached hamlets of ten huts each, inhabited by Aroras.
Sheopuri (3 do.).—One hundred and twenty houses, chiefly Aroras: small fort of six bastions to the south-east, garrisoned from Haidarabad.
Kamera-ka-Nala (6 do.).—This nala issues from the Indus between Kakar-ki-basti and Sakrand, and passes eastward; probably the bed of an old canal, with which the country is everywhere intersected.
Sakrand (2 do.).—One hundred houses, one-third of which are Hindus; patches of cultivation; numerous watercourses neglected; everywhere overgrown with jungle, chiefly jhau and [333] khejra (tamarisk and acacia). Cotton, indigo, rice, wheat, barley, peas, grain, and maize grow on the banks of the watercourses.
Jatui (2 do.).—Sixty houses; a nala between it and Jatui.
Kazi-ka-Shahr (4 do.).—Four hundred houses; two nalas intervene.
1312Makera (4 coss).—Sixty houses; a nala between it and Jatui.
Kakar-ki-basti (6 do.).—Sixteen houses; half-way the remains of an ancient fortress; three canals or nalas intervening; the village placed upon a mound four miles from the Indus, whose waters overflow it during the periodic monsoon.
Pura or Hamlet (1 do.).—A ferry.
The Indus (1 do.).—Took boat and crossed to
Sewan or Sehwan (1½ do.).—A town of twelve hundred houses on the right bank, belonging to Haidarabad[71] [334].
1313Sehwan to Haidarabad
Jat-ki-basti (2 coss).—The word jāt or jat is here pronounced Zjat. This hamlet ‘basti,’ is of thirty huts, half a mile from the Indus: hills close to the village.
1314Samaicha-ki-basti (2½ coss).—Small village.
Lakhi (2½ do.).—Sixty houses; one mile and a half from the river: canal on the north side of the village; banks well cultivated. In the hills, two miles west, is a spot sacred to Parbati and Mahadeo, where are several springs, three of which are hot.[72]
Umri (2 do.).—Twenty-five houses, half a mile from River; the hills not lofty, a coss west.
Sumri (3 do.).—Fifty houses, on the River hills; one and a half coss west.
Sindu or San (4 do.).—Two hundred houses and a bazar, two hundred yards from the River; hills one and a half coss west.
Manjhand (4½ do.).—On the River two hundred and fifty houses, considerable trade; hills two coss west.
Umar-ki-basti (3 do.).—A few huts, near the river.
Sayyid-ki-basti (3 do.).
Shikarpur (4 do.).—On the river; crossed to the east side.
1315Haidarabad (3 coss).—One and a half coss from the river Indus. Haidarabad to Nasarpur, nine coss; to Sheodadpur, eleven do.; to Sheopuri, seventeen do.; to Rohri-Bakhar, six do.—total forty-three coss.
Haidarabad via Umarkot, to Jaisalmer
Sindu Khan ki-basti (3 do.).—West bank of Phuleli river.
Tajpur (3 do.).—Large town, north-east of Haidarabad [335].
Katrel (1½ do.).—A hundred houses.
Nasarpur (1½ do.).—East of Tajpur, large town.
Alahyar-ka-Tanda (4 do.).—A considerable town built by Alahyar Khan, brother of the late Ghulam Ali, and lying south-east of Nasarpur. Two coss north of the town is the Sangra Nala or Bawa,[73] said to issue from the Indus between Hala and Sakrand and passing Jandila.
Mirbah (5 do.).—Forty houses; Bah, Tanda, Got, Purwa, are all synonymous terms for habitations of various degrees.
Sunaria (7 do.).—Forty houses.
Dangana (4 do.).—To this hamlet extend the flats of Sind. Sandhills five and six miles distant to the north. A small river runs under Dangana.
Karsana (7 do.).—A hundred houses. Two coss east of Karsana are the remains of an ancient city; brick buildings still remaining, with well and reservoirs. Sandhills two to three coss to the northward.
Umarkot (8 do.).—There is one continued plain from Haidarabad to Umarkot, which is built on the low ground at the very extremity of the thal or sand-hills of the desert, here commencing. In all this space, estimated at forty-four kachha coss, or almost seventy miles of horizontal distance, as far as Sunaria the soil is excellent, and plentifully irrigated by bawahs, or canals from the Indus. Around the villages there is considerable cultivation; but notwithstanding the natural fertility, there is a vast quantity of jungle, chiefly babul (Mimosa arabica), the evergreen thal, and thal or tamarisk. From Sunaria to Umarkot is one continued jungle, in which there are a few cultivated patches dependent on the heavens for irrigation; the soil is not so good as the first portion of the route.
Katar (4 do.).—A mile east of Umarkot commences the thal or sandhills, the ascent a hundred and fifty to two hundred feet. A few huts of Samaichas who pasture; two wells.
Dhat-ki-basti (4 do.).—A few huts; one well; Dhats, Sodhas, and Sindis cultivate and pasture.
1316Dharnas (8 coss).—A hundred houses, chiefly Pokharna Brahmans and Banias, who purchase up the thal from the pastoral tribes, which they export to Bhuj and the valley. It is also an entrepôt for trade; caravans from the east exchange their goods for the thal, here very cheap, from the vast flocks pastured in the Rui.
Kherlu-ka-Par (3 do.).—Numerous springs (thal) and hamlets scattered throughout this tract.
Lanela (1½ do.).—A hundred houses; water brackish; conveyed by camels from Kherlu.
Bhoj-ka-Par (3 do.).—Huts; wells; patches of cultivation.
Bhu (6 do.).—Huts.
Garara (10 do.).—A small town of three hundred houses, belonging to Sawai Singh Sodha, with several thal or hamlets attached to it. This is the boundary between Dhat or the Sodha raj and Jaisalmer. Dhat is now entirely incorporated in Sind. A thal, or collector of the transit duties, resides here.
Harsani (10 do.).—Three hundred houses, chiefly Bhattis. It belongs to a Rajput of this tribe, now dependent on Marwar [336].
Jinjiniali (10 do.).—Three hundred houses. This is the fief of the chief noble of Jaisalmer; his name Ketsi,[74] Bhatti. It is the border town of Jaisalmer. There is a small mud fortress, and several talaos, or sheets of water, which contain water often during three-fourths of the year; and considerable cultivation in the little valleys formed by the thal, or sand-ridges. About two miles north of Jinjiniali there is a village of Charans.
Gaj Singh-ki-basti (2 do.).—Thirty-five houses. Water scarce, brought on camels from the Charan village.
Hamirdeora (5 do.).—Two hundred houses. There are several thal or pools, about a mile north, whither water is brought on camels, that in the village being saline. The ridge of rocks from Jaisalmer here terminates.
Chelak (5 do.).—Eighty houses; wells; Chelak on the ridge.
Bhopa (7 do.).—Forty houses; wells; small thal or pool.
Bhao (2 do.).—Two hundred houses; pool to the west; small wells.
Jaisalmer (5 do.).—Eighty-five and a half coss from Umarkot to Jaisalmer by this route, which is circuitous. That by Jinjiniali 26 coss, Girab 7, Nilwa 12, Umarkot 25—in all 70 pakka coss, or about 150 miles. Caravans or kitars of camels pass in four days, kasids or messengers in three and a half, travelling night and day. The last 25 coss, or 50 miles, is entire desert: add to this 44 short coss from Haidarabad to Umarkot, making a total of 129½ coss. The most 1317direct road is estimated at 105 pakka coss, which, allowing for sinuosities, is equal to about 195 English miles.
Total of this route, 85½ coss.
Jaisalmer to Haidarabad, by Baisnau
Kuldar (5 coss).
Khaba (5 do.).
Lakha-ka-ganw (30 do.).—Desert the whole way; no hamlets or water.
Baisnau (8 do.).
Bersia-ka-Rar (16 do.).—Wells.
Thipra (3 do.).
Mata-ka-dher (7 do.).—Umarkot distant 20 coss.
Jandila (8 do.).
Alahyar-ka-TandaAlahyar-ka-Tanda (10 do.).—Sankra, or Sangra thal.
Tajpur (4 do.). Jam-ka-Tanda (2 do.). Haidarabad (5 do.). In the former route the distance from Alahyar-ka-Tanda, by the town of Nasarpur, is called 13 coss, or two more than this. There are five nalas or canals in the last five coss.
Total of this route, 103 coss.
Jaisalmer, by Shahgarh, to Khairpur of Mir Sohrab
Anasagar (2 do.).
Chonda (2 do.).
Pani-ka-tar (3 do.).—Tar or Tir, springs [337].
Pani-ki-kuchri (7 do.).—No village.
Kuriala (4 do.).
Shahgarh (20 do.[75]).—Rui or waste all this distance. Shahgarh is the boundary; it has a small castle of six bastions, a post of Mir Sohrab, governor of Upper Sind.
Garsia (6 do.).
Garhar (28 do.).—Rui or desert the whole way; not a drop of water. There are two routes branching off from Garhar, one to Khairpur, the other to Ranipur.
Baloch-ki-basti (5 do.). Samaicha-ki-basti (5 do.). Hamlets of Baloch and Samaichas.
Nala (2 do.).—The same stream which flows from Dara, and through the ancient city of Alor; it marks the boundary of the desert.
1318Khairpur[76] (18 coss).—Mir Sohrab, governor of Upper Sind, and brother of the prince of Haidarabad, resides here. He has erected a stone fortress of twelve bastions, called Nawakot or New-castle. The 18 coss from the thal to Khairpur is flat, and marks the breadth of the valley here. The following towns are of consequence.
Khairpur to Larkhana.—Twenty coss west of the Indus, held by Karam Ali, son of the prince of Haidarabad.
Khairpur to Lakhi.—Fifteen coss, and five from Shikarpur.
Khairpur to Shikarpur (20 do.).
Garhar to Ranipur
Pharara (10 do.).—A village of fifty houses, inhabited by Sindis and Karars; several hamlets around. A dani, or collector of transit dues, resides here on the part of Mir Sohrab, the route being travelled by kitars or caravans of camels. The nala from Dara passes two coss east of Pharara, which is on the extremity of the desert. Commencement of the ridge called Takar, five coss west of Pharara, extending to Rohri Bakhar, sixteen coss distant from Pharara. From Pharara to the Indus, eighteen coss, or thirty miles breadth of the valley here.
Ranipur[77] (18 do.).
Jaisalmer to Rohri Bakhar
Kuriala (18 do.).—See last route.
Banda (4 do.).—A tribe of Muslims, called Undar, dwell here.
Gotru (16 do.).—Boundary of Jaisalmer and Upper Sind. A small castle and garrison of Mir Sohrab’s; two wells, one inside; and a hamlet of thirty huts of Samaichas and Undars; thal heavy.
Udat (32 do.).—Thirty huts of shepherds; a small mud fortress. Rui, a deep and entire desert, throughout all this space; no water [338].
Sankram or Sangram (16 do.).—Half the distance sand-hills, the rest numerous temporary hamlets constructed of the thal, or maize stalks; several water-courses.
Nala-Sangra (½ do.).—This nala or stream is from Dara, on the Sind, two coss and a half north of Rohri Bakhar; much cultivation; extremity of the sand-hills.
Targatia (½ do.).—A large town; Bankers and Banias, here termed Karar and Samaichas.
Low ridge of hills, called Takar (4 do.).—This little chain of 1319silicious rocks runs north and south; Nawakot, the Newcastle of Sohrab, is at the foot of them; they extend beyond Pharara, which is sixteen coss from Rohri Bakhar. Gumat is six coss from Nawakot.
Rohri (4 coss). Bakhar (½ do.). Sakhar (½ do.).
On the ridge, on the left bank of the Indus. Crossed over to Bakhar; breadth of the river near a mile. Bakhar is an island, and the other branch to Sakhar is almost a mile over also. This insulated rock is of silex, specimens of which I possess. There are the remains of the ancient fortress of Mansura, named in honour of the Caliph Al-Mansur, whose lieutenants made it the capital of Sind on the opening of their conquests. It is yet more famed as the capital of the Sogdoi of Alexander; in all probability a corruption of Sodha, the name of the tribe which has ruled from immemorial ages, and who till very lately held Umarkot.
N.B.—Kasids or messengers engage to carry despatches from Jaisalmer to Rohri Bakhar in four days and a half; a distance of one hundred and twelve coss.
Bakhar to Shikarpur
Lakhi, also called Lakhisar (12 do.).
Sindu Nala (3½ do.).
Shikarpur (½ do.).
Total of this route, 16 do.
Bakhar to Larkhana (28 do.).
Shikarpur to Larkhana (20 do.).
Jaisalmer to Dahir Ali Khairpur
Kuriala (18 do.).
Khara (20 do.).—Rui or desert all the way. This is the thal, or mutual boundary of Upper Sind and Jaisalmer, and there is a small thal or mud fort, jointly held by the respective troops; twenty huts and one well.
Sutiala (20 do.).—Rui all the way. A thal for the collection of duties; six wells.
Khairpur (Dahir Ali) (20 do.).—Rui, and deep jungle of the evergreens called thal and thal, from Sutiala to Khairpur.
Total of this route, 78 do.
Khairpur (Dahir Ali) to Ahmadpur
Ubaura (6 do.).—Considerable town; Indus four coss west.
Sabzal-ka-kot (8 do.).—Boundary of Upper Sind and Daudputra. This frontier castle, often disputed, was lately taken by Mir Sohrab from Bahawal Khan. Numerous hamlets and watercourses [339].
1320Ahmadpur (8 coss).—Considerable garrison town of Daudputra; two battalions and sixteen guns.
Total of this route, 22 coss.
Khairpur (Dahir Ali) to Haidarabad
Mirpur (8 do.).—Four coss from the Indus.
Matela (5 do.).—Four coss from the Indus.
Gotki (7 do.).—Two coss from the Indus.
Dadla (8 do.).—Two coss from the Indus.
Rohri Bakhar (20 do.).—Numerous hamlets and temporary villages, with many water-courses for cultivation in all this space.
Khairpur (Sohrab-ka-) 8 Six coss from the Indus.
Gumat 8 The coss in this distance seems a medium between the pakka of two coss and the kachha of one and a half. The medium of one and three quarter miles to each coss, deducting a tenth for windings, appears, after numerous comparisons, to be just. This is alike applicable to all Upper Sind.
Ranipur 2
(See route to it from Garhar).
Hingor 5
Bhiranapur 5
Haliani 1
Kanjara 3
Naushahra 8
Mora 7
Shahpura 3
Daulatpur 3
Mirpur 3 On the Indus. Here Madari crossed to Sehwan, and returned to Mirpur.
Kazi-ka-Got 9 The coss about two miles each; which, deducting one in ten for windings of the road, may be protracted.
Sakrand 11
Hala 7
Khardao 4
Matari 4
Haidarabad 6
Total 145 coss
Jaisalmer to Ikhtyar Khan-ki-Garhi
Brahmsar (4 coss) Mordesar (3 do.) Gugadeo (3 do.) Kaimsar (5 do.) These villages are all inhabited by Paliwal Brahmans, and are in the tract termed Kandal or Khadal, of which Katori, eight coss north of Jaisalmer, is the chief town of about forty villages.—N.B. All towns with the affix of thal have pools of water.
Nohar-ki-Garhi (25 do.).—thal or desert throughout this space. The castle of Nohar is of brick, and now belongs to Daudputra, who captured it from the Bhattis of Jaisalmer. About 1321forty huts and little cultivation. It is a place of toll for the kitars or caravans; two rupees for each [340] camel-load of ghi, and four for one with sugar; half a rupee for each camel, and a third for an ox laden with grain.
Murid Kot (24 coss).—thal or desert. Rangarh is four coss east of this.
Ikhtyar-ki-Garhi (15 do.).—thal until the last four coss, or eight miles. Thence the descent from the thal or sand-hills to the valley of the Indus.
Total of this route, 79 coss. Ikhtyar to Ahmadpur 18 coss
” Khanpur 5 ”
” Sultanpur 8 ”
Jaisalmer to Sheo-Kotra, Kheralu, Chhotan, Nagar-Parkar, Mitti, and return to Jaisalmer.
Dabla (3 do.).—Thirty houses, Pokharna Brahmans.
Akali (2 do.).—Thirty houses, Chauhans, well and small talao.
Chor (5 do.).—Sixty houses, mixed classes.
Devikot (2 do.).—A small town of two hundred houses; belongs to the Jaisalmer fisc or khalisa. There is a little fort and garrison. A talao or pool excavated by the Paliwals, in which water remains throughout the year after much rain.
Sangar (6 do.).—N.B. This route is to the east of that (following) by Chincha, the most direct road to Balotra, and the one usually travelled; but the villages are now deserted.
Biasar (2 do.).—Forty houses, and talao. Bhikarae 2 coss distant.
Mandai (frontier) (2½ do.).—Two hundred and fifty houses. Sahib Khan Sahariya with a hundred horse is stationed here; the town is khalisa and the last of Jaisalmer. The ridge from Jaisalmer is close to all the places on this route to Mandi.
Gunga (4½ do.).—thal, or post of Jodhpur.
Sheo (2 do.).—A large town of three hundred houses, but many deserted, some through famine. Chief of a district. A Hakim resides here from Jodhpur; collects the transit dues, and protects the country from the depredations of the Sahariyas.
Kotra (3 do.).—Town of five hundred houses, of which only two hundred are now inhabited. On the north-west side is a fort on the ridge. A Rathor chief resides here. The district of Sheo Kotra was taken from the Bhattis of Jaisalmer by the Rathors of Jodhpur.
Vesala (6 do.).—In ancient times a considerable place; now only fifty houses. A fort on the ridge to the south-west, near two hundred feet high; connected with the Jaisalmer ridge, but often covered by the lofty thal of sand.
1322Kheralu (7 coss).—Capital of Kherdhar, one of the ancient divisions of Marusthali. Two coss south of Vesala crossed a pass over the hills.
Chhotan (10 do.).—An ancient city, now in ruins, having at present only about eighty houses, inhabited by the Sahariyas [341].
Bankasar (11 do.). Formerly a large city, now only about three hundred and sixty houses.
Bhil-ki-basti (5 do.) Chauhan-ka-pura (6 do.) Few huts in each.
Nagar (3 do.).—A large town, capital of Parkar, containing one thousand five hundred houses, of which one-half are inhabited.
Kaim Khan Sahariya-ki-basti (18 do.).—Thirty houses in the thal; wells, with water near the surface; three coss to the east the boundary of Sind and the Chauhan Raj.
Dhat-ka-pura (15 do.).—A hamlet; Rajputs, Bhils, and Sahariyas.
Mitti or Mittri-ka-kot (3 do.).—A town of six hundred houses in Dhat, or the division of Umarkot belonging to Haidarabad; a relative of whose prince, with the title of Nawab, resides here; a place of great commerce, and also of transit for the caravans; a fortified mahall to the south-west. When the Shah of Kabul used to invade Sind, the Haidarabad prince always took refuge here with his family and valuables. The sand-hills are immensely high and formidable.
Chailasar (10 do.).—Four hundred houses, inhabited by Sahariyas, Brahmans, Bijaranis, and Banias; a place of great importance to the transit trade.
Samaicha-ki-basti (10 do.).—thal from Chailasar.
Nur Ali, Pani-ka-Tar (9 do.).—Sixty houses of Charans, Sultana Rajputs and Kauravas (qu. the ancient Kauravas?) water (thal) plenty in the thal.
Rual (5 do.).—Twelve hamlets termed thal, scattered round a tract of several coss, inhabited by different tribes, after whom they are named, as Sodha, Sahariya, Kaurava, Brahman, Bania and Sutar, as Sodha-ka-bas, Sahariya-ka-bas, or habitations of the Sodhas; of the Sahariyas, etc. etc. (see p. 1263).
Deli (7 do.).—One hundred houses; a thal, or collector of duties, resides here.
Garara (10 do.).—Described in route from Umarkot to Jaisalmer.
Raedana (11 do.).—Forty houses; a lake formed by damming up the water. thal, or salt-pans.
Kotra (9 do.).
Sheo (3 do.).—The whole space from Nagar to Sheo-Kotra is a continuous mass of lofty sand-hills (thal), scattered with hamlets (thal), in many parts affording abundant pasture for flocks of sheep, goats, buffaloes, and camels; 1323the thal extends south to Nawakot and Balwar, about ten coss south of the former and two of the latter. To the left of Nawakot are the flats of Talpura, or Lower Sind.
Jaisalmer to Sheo Kotra, Barmer, Nagar-Gura and Suigam.
Dhana (5 coss).—Two hundred houses of Paliwals; pool and wells; ridge two to three hundred feet high, cultivation between the ridges.
Chincha (7 do.).—Small hamlet; Sara, half a coss east; ridge, low thal, cultivation.
Jasrana (2 do.).—Thirty houses of Paliwals, as before; Kita to the right half a coss.
Unda (1 do.).—Fifty houses of Paliwals and Jain Rajputs; wells and pools; country as before [342].
Sangar (2 do.).—Sixty houses; only fifteen inhabited, the rest fled to Sind during the famine of 1813; Charans. Grand thal commences.
Sangar-ka-talao (½ do.).—Water remains generally eight months in the talao or pool, sometimes the whole year.
Bhikarae (1½ do.) Kharel (4 do.) Between is the thal or boundary of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. Bhikarae has one hundred and twenty houses of Paliwals; wells and pools at both places.
Rajarel (1 do.).—Seventy houses; most deserted since famine.
Gonga (4 do.).—Hamlet of twenty huts; thal, or small wells and pools; to this the ridge and thal intermingle.