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XV. On the Religious Establishments of Méwar*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2009

James Tod
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In all ages the ascendancy of the hierarchy is observable; it is a tribute paid to religion through her organs. Could the lavish endowments and extensive immunities of the various religious establishments in Rajast'han be assumed as criteria of the morality of the inhabitants, we should be authorized to assign them a high station in the scale of excellence. But they more frequently prove the reverse of this position; especially the territorial endowments, often the fruits of a death-bed repentance, which, prompted by superstition or fear, compounds for past crimes by posthumous profusion, although vanity not rarely lends her powerful aid. There is scarcely a state in Rajpootana in which at least one-fifth of the soil is not assigned for the support of temples, their ministers, the secular Brahmans, bards, and genealogists. But the evil was not always so extensive; the abuse is of modern growth.

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Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , March 1830 , pp. 270 - 325
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Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1830

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References

page 270 note * It is unnecessary to say more of Méwar in this place, than that it is the most ancient and most respected of all the Rajpút principalities; its prince is the chief of the whole Rajpút race, and the pre-eminence of his illustrious descent is universally admitted. From their migration out of the north of India and settlement in Saurashtra in the second century, we can trace the vicissitudes of their fortunes to the present time, and as their country was less infested by Mahommedan conquerors, it offers a better picture of Hinduism than any other portion of India.

page 270 note † Menu commands,“Should the king be near his end through some incurable disease, he must bestow on the priests all his riches accumulated from legal fines: and having duly committed his kingdom to his son, let him seek death in battle, or, if there be no war, by abstaining from food.”—Chap, ix., p. 337, Haughton's Edition. The annals of all the Rajpút States afford instances of obedience to this text of their divine legislator.

page 272 note * Saint-Eucher, évêque d'Orléans, eut une vision qui étonna les princes. Il taut que je rapporte à ce sujet la lettre que les évêques, assemblés à Reims, écrivent à Louis-le-Germalique, qui étoit entré dans les terres de Charles-le-chauve, parcequ'elle est très-propre à nous faire voir quel étoit, dans ces temps-là, l'état des choses, et la situation des esprits. Ils disent que “Saint Eucher ayant été ravi dans le ciel, il vit Charles Martel tourmenté dans l'enfer inférieur par l'ordre des saints qui doivent assister avec Jésus-Christ au jugement dernier; qi'ul avoit été condamné à cette peine avant le temps pour avoir dépouillé les églises de leurs biens, et s'étre par là rendu coupable des péchés de tous ceux qui les avoient dotées.”—Montesquieu, l'Esprit des Lois, livre xxxi, ch. xi, p. 460.

page 272 note † Genesis, chap, xlvii. v. 20.

page 272 note ‡ Menu, chap. VII.

page 272 note § From bap, father.

page 273 note * “Origin of Laws and Government” by the learned Goguet; vol. i. p. 54, and vol. ii. p. 13.

page 273 note † Hallams Middle Ages, vol. ii. p. 212.

page 273 note ‡ “A Brahman unable to subsist by his duties just mentioned (sacerdotal), may live by the duty of a soldier.” Menu, chap. x.

page 273 note ∥ Montesquieu.

page 273 note § “Le clergé recevoit tant, qu'il faut que, dans les trois races, on lui ait donné plusieurs fois tous les biens du royaume. Mais si les rois, la noblesse, et le peuple, trouvèrent le moyen de leur donner tous leurs biens, ils ne trouvèrent pas moins celui de les leur ôter.”—Montesquieu. l'Esprit des Lois, livre xxxi. chap. x.

page 274 note * These worshippears of God and Mammon, when threats fail, have recourse to maiming, and even destroying themselves, to gain their object, In 1820 one of the confidential servants of the Rana demanded payment of the petty tax called gúgri, of one rupee on each house, from some Brahmans who dwelt in the village, and which had always been received from them. They refused payment, and on being pressed, four of them stabbed themselves mortally. Their bodies were placed upon biers, and funeral rites withheld till punishment should be inflicted on the priest-killer. But for once superstition was disregarded, and the rights of the Brahmans in this community were resumed.—See Appendix to this paper, No. I.

page 274 note † Mais le bas peuple n'est guère capable d'abandonner ses intérêts par des exemples. Le synode de Francfert lui présenta im motif plus pressant pour payer les climes. On y fit un capitulaire dans lequel il est dit que, dans la dernièré famine, on avoit trouvé les épis de blévides, qu'ils avoient été dévorés par les démons, et qu'on avoit entendu leurs voix qui reprochoient de n'avoir pas payé la dìme: et, en conséquence, il fut ordonné à tous ceux qui tenoienes biens ecclésiastiques de payer la dìme, et, en conséquence encore, on l'ordonna à tous, L'Esprit des Lois, livre xxxi. ch. xii.

page 275 note * These lay-Brahmans are not wanting in energy or courage; the sword is as familiar to them as the mala (chapiet). The grandfather of Ramnat'h, the present worthy seneschal of the Rana, was governor of the turbulent district of Jehajpúr, which has never been so well ruled since. He left a curious piece of advice to his successors, inculcating vigorous measures. “With two thousand men you may eat khitchri; with one thousand dalb'hat; with five hundred júti(the shoe). Khitchri is a savoury mess of pulse, rice, butter, and spices; Dalb'hat is simple rice and pulse; the Shoe, is indelible disgrace.

page 275 note † Menu, in his rules on government, commands the king to impart his momentous counsel and entrust all transactions to a learned and distinguished Brahman. Chap. vii. p. 195.

There is, no being more aristocratic in his ideas than the secular Brahman or priest, who deems the bare name a passport to respect. The Kúlun Brahman of Bengal piques himself upon this title of nobility granted by the last Hindu king of Canouj (whence they migrated to Bengal), and in virtue of which his alliance in matrimony is courted. But although Menu has imposed obligations towards the Brahman little short of adoration, these are limited to the “learned in the Védas:” he classes the unlearned Brahman with “an elephant made of wood, or an antelope of leather;” nullities, save in name. And he adds further, that “as liberality to a fool is useless, so is a Brahman useless if he read not the holy texts:” comparing the person who gives to such an one, to a husbandman “who, sowing seed in a barren soil, reaps no gain;” so, the Brahman “obtains no reward in heaven.” These sentiments are repeated in numerous texts, holding out the most powerful inducements to the sacerdotal class to cultivate their minds, since their power consists solely in their wisdom. For such, there are no privileges too extensive, no homage too great. “A king, even though dying with want, must not receive any tax from a Brahman learned in the Védas.” His person is sacred. “Never shall the king slay a Brahman, though convicted of all possible crimes,” is a premium at least to unbounded insolence, and unfits them for members of society, more especially for soldiers: banishment, with person and property untouched, is the declared punishment for even the most heinous crimes. “A Brahman may seize without hesitation, if he be distressed for a subsistence, the goods of his Súdra slave.” But the following text is the climax: “What prince could gain wealth by oppressing these [Brahmans], who, if angry, could frame other worlds, and regents of worlds, and could give birth to new gods and mortals?”—Menu, chaps, ii, iii, vii, viii, ix.

page 276 note * Hallam's Middle Ages, vol. i. page 204.

page 276 note † These forgeries of charters cannot be considered as invalidating the arguments drawn from them, as we may rest assured nothing is introduced foreign to custom, in the items of the deeds.

page 276 note ‡ Suggested by the author, and executed under his superintendence, who waded through all these documents, and translated upwards of a hundred of the most curious.

page 276 note ∥ See the Appendix to this paper, No. II.

page 277 note * Hallam.

page 277 note † See Appendix to this paper, No. III.

page 277 note ‡ Each bundle consists of a specified number of ears, which are roasted and eaten in the unripe state with a little salt.

page 277 note ∥ Dict, de l'Ancien Régime, p. 131Google Scholar; art. Corvée.

page 278 note * That is. with one (ek) lingam or phallus—the symbol of worship being a single cylindrical or conical stone. There are others, termed Seheslinga and Kot-iswara, with a thousand or a million of phallic representatives, all minutely carved on the monolithic emblem, having then much resemblance to the symbol of Bacchus, whose orgies both in Egypt and Greece are the counterpart of those of the Hindu Bagii-es, thus called from being clad in a tiger's or leopard's hide: Bacchus had the panther's for his covering. There is a very ancient temple to Kotiswara at the embouchure of the eastern arm of the Indus; and there are many to Skiies-Linga in the peninsula of Saurashtra.

page 277 note † It might have appeared fanciful, some time ago, to have given a Sanscrit derivation to a Greek proper name: but Europa might be derived from Súrúpa—“of the beautiful face”—the initial syllable su and en having the same signification in both languages, viz. good—Rúpa is ‘countenance.’

page 279 note * “In this sacrifice four altars are erected, for offering the flesh to the four gods, Lacshmi-Narayana, U'mia-Mechéswar, Brimha, and Anunta, The nine planets, and Prit'hu, or the earth, with her ten guardian-deities, are worshipped. Five Vilwù, five Khŭdirŭ, five Pŭlashŭ and five Udumbŭrŭ posts are to be erected, and a bull tied to each post. Clarified butter is burnt on the altar, and pieces of the flesh of the slaughtered animals placed thereon. This sacrifice was very common.”—Ward on the Religion of the Hindus, vol. ii. p. 263.Google Scholar

page 279 note † First a covered altar is to be prepared, sixteen posts are then to be erected of various woods; a golden image of a man, and an iron one of a goat, with golden images of Vishnu and Lacshmi, a silver one of Siva, with a golden bull, and a silver one of Garuda (the eagle) are placed upon the altar. Animals, as goats, sheep, &c., are tied to the posts, and to one or them, of the wood of the mimoca, is to be tied the human victim. Fire is to be kindled by means of a burning glass. The sacrificing priest (hota) strews the grass called d'hub or immortal, round the sacred fire. Then follows the burnt sacrifice to the ten guardian deities of the earth—to the nine planets, and to the Hindu Triad, to each of whom clarified butter is poured on the sacred fire one thousand times. Another burnt-sacrifice, to the sixty-four inferior gods follows, which is succeeded by the sacrifice and offering of all the other animals tied to the posts. The human sacrifice concludes; the sacrificing priest offering pieces of the flesh of the victim to each god as he circumambulates the altar. Ibid. 260.

page 279 note ‡ This is to be taken in its literal sense; the economy of the bee being displayed in the formation of extensive colonies, which inhabit large masses of black comb adhering to the summits of the rocks. According to the legends of these tracts they were called in as auxiliaries on Mahommedan invasions, and are said to have thrown the enemy more than once into confusion.

page 280 note * See Appendix to this paper, No. IV

page 280 note † In June 1806 I was present at a meeting between the Rana and Sindia at the shrine of Eklinga. The rapacious Mahratta had just forced the passes to the Rana's capital, which was the commencement of aseries of aggressions involving one of the most tragical events in the history of Méwar—the immolation of the Princess Kishna and the subsequent ruin of the country. I was then an Attaché of the British embassy to the Mahratta prince, who carried the ambassador to the meeting to increase his consequence. In March 1818 I again visited the shrine on my way to Udyapúr, but under very different circumstances—to announce the deliverance of the family from oppression, and to labour for its prosperity. While standing without the sanctuary looking at the quadriform divinity, and musing on the changes of the intervening twelve years, my meditations were broken by an old Rajpút chieftain, who, saluting me, invited me to enter and adore “Baba Adam,” Father Adam, as he termed the phallic emblem. I excused myself on account of my boots, which I said I could not remove, and that with them I would not cross the threshold—a reply which pleased him, and preceded me to the Rand's court.

page 281 note * This word is compounded of go, the senses, and saén or swami, lord or master.

page 281 note † Siva is represented with three eyes. Hence his title of Trinitra and Tri-lochun, the Tri-opthalmic Jupiter of the Greeks. From the fire of the central eye of Siva is to proceed Pralaya, or the final destruction of the universe.

page 281 note ‡ I have seen a cemetery of these, each of very small dimensions, which may be described as so many concentric rings of earth, diminishing to the apex, crowned with a cylindrical stone pillar. One of the disciples of Siva was performing rites to the manes, strewing leaves of an evergreen and sprinkling water over the graves.

page 281 note § For a minute description of this, vide “Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society,” vol. i. p. 217.Google Scholar

page 282 note * The copy of the Síva Púrana which I had the honour to present to the Royal Asiatic Society was obtained for me by the Rana from the temple of Eklinga.

page 282 note † Jíva-pitri, the ‘father of life,’ would be a very proper epithet for Mahadéva, the ‘creative power,’ whose Olympus is Kailás.

page 282 note ‡ B'hola Nat'h, or the ‘Simple God,’ is one of the epithets of Siva, whose want of reflection is so great, that he would give away his own divinity if asked.

page 282 note § Védiaván, the ‘Man of Secrets or Knowledge,’ is the term used by way of reproach to the Jains, having the import of magician. Their opponents believe them to be possessed of supernatural skill; and it is recorded of the celebrated Umara, author of the Cos'a or dictionary called after him, that he miraculously “made the full moon appear on Amavus”—the ides of the month, when the planet is invisible.

page 282 note ∥ Khartra signifies ‘true,’ an epithet of distinction which was bestowed by that great supporter of the Buddhists or Jains, Sidraj, king of Anhulwarra Putun, on one of the branches (gatcha) in a grand religious disputation (badha) at that capital in the eleventh century. The celebrated Hemachandra Acharya was head of the Khartra-gatcha; and his spiritual descendant honoured Udyapúr with his presence in his visit to his dioceses in the desert in 1821. My own Yati tutor was a disciple of Hemachandra, and his patravali or pedigree registered his descent by spiritual successions from him.

This pontiff was a man of extensive learning, and of estimable character. He was versed in all the ancient inscriptions to which no key now exists, and decyphered one for me which had been long unintelligible. His travelling library was of considerable extent, though chiefly composed of works relating to the ceremonies of his religion: it was in the charge of two of his disciples, remarkable for talent, and who, like himself, were perfectly acquainted with all these ancient characters. The pontiff kindly permitted my Yati to bring for iny inspection some of the letters of invitation written by his flocks in the desert. These were rolls, some of them several feet in length, containing pictured delineations of their wishes. One from Bikanér represented that city, in one division of which was the school or college of the Jains, where the Yatis were all pourtrayed at their various studies. In another part a procession of them was quitting the southern gate of the city, the head of which was in the act of delivering a scroll to a messenger, while the pontiff was seen with his cortège advancing in the distance. To shew the respect in which these high priests of the Jains are held, the princes of Rajpútana invariably advance outside the walls of their capital to receive and conduct them to it—a mark of respect paid only to princes. On the occasion of the high priest of the Khariras passing through Udyapúr, as above alluded to, the Rana received him with every distinction.

page 283 note * So called from the town of Ossa, in Marwar.

page 283 note † Pali-t'hana or “the abode of the Pali,” is the name of the town at the foot of the sacred mount Satrunjya (signifying ‘victorious over the foe’), on which the Jain temples are sacred to Buddhiswara, or the ‘Lord of the Buddhists’ I have little doubt that the name of Palit'hama is derived from the pastoral (pali) Scythic invaders bringing the Buddhist faith in their train—a faith which appears to me not indigenous to India. Palestine, which with the whole of Syria and Egypt, was ruled by the Yksos or shepherd-kings, who for a season expelled the old Coptic race, may have had a similar import to the Pali-t'hana founded by the Indo-Seythic Pali. The author visited all these sacred mounts.

page 285 note * See Appendix to this paper.

page 285 note † Ibid.

page 286 note * See Appendix to this article.

page 286 note † Dwarica is at the point called Juggut kúnt, of the Saurashtra peninsula. Ca is the mark of the genitive case. Dwar-ca-nat'h would be the “gate of the god.”

page 286 note ‡ Fifty-seven descents are given both in their sacred and profane genealogies from Crishna to the princes supposed to have been cotemporary with Vickamaditya. The Yadu B'hatti or Shama B'halli (the Asham Bétti of Abul Fuzil), draw their pedigree from Crishna or Yadunat'h, as do the Jharéjas of Kutch.

page 286 note § With Mat'hura as a centre and a radius of eighty miles, describe a circle: all within it is Vrij, which was the seat of whatever was refined in Hinduism, and whose language, the Vrij-basha. was the purest dialect of India. Vrij is tantamount to the land of the Suraseni, derived from Su'rsén, the ancestor of Crishna, whose capital, Súrpúri, is about fifty miles south of Mat'hura on the Yamuna (Jumua); the remains of this city (Súrpúri) the author had the pleasure of discovering. The province of the Surséni, or Suraseni, is defined by Menu, and particularly mentioned by the historians of Alexander.

page 287 note * Vindra-vana, or the “forests of Vindra,” in which were placed many temples sacred to Kaniya, is on the Yamuna, a few miles above Mat'hura. A pilgrimage to this temple is indispensable to the true votary of Crishna.

page 287 note † This river is called the Kal Yamuna, or black Yamuna, and Kali-dé or the “black pool from Kaniya having destroyed the hydra Kaliya which infested it. Jydeva calls the Yamuna “the blue daughter of the sun.”

page 288 note * Rin, the “field of battle,” Chor, from chorna, to abandon. Hence Rinchor, one of the titles under which Crishna is worshipped at Dwarica, is most unpropitious to the martial Rajpút. Kal-Yamun, the foe from whom he fled, and who is figured as a serpent, is doubtless the Tak, the ancient foe of the Yadúswho slew Janméja, emperor of the Pandús.

page 288 note † See Appendix to this paper, No. VIII.

page 289 note * Whoever has unhooded the falcon at a lapwing, or even scared one from her nest, need not be told of its peculiarly distressing scream, as if appealing to sympathy. The allusion here is to the lapwing scared from her nest, as the rival armies of the Cúrús and Pandús joined in battle. when the compassionate Crishna, taking from an elephant's neck a war-bell (vira-gunt'ha). covered the nest, in order to protect it.

When the majority of the feudal nobles of Marwar became self-exiled, to avoid the almost demoniac fury of their sovereign, since his alliance with the British government, Anar Sing, the chief of Ahore, a fine specimen of the Rahtore Rajpút, brave, intelligent, and amiable, was one day lamenting that while all India was enjoying tranquillity under the shield of Britain, they alone were suffering from the caprice of a tyrant; concluding a powerful appeal to my personal interposition with the foregoing allegory,and observing on the beauty of the office of mediator. “You are all powerful,” added he, “and we may be of little account in the grand scale of affairs; but Crishna condescended to protect even the lapwing's egg in the midst of battle.” This brave man knew my anxiety to make their peace with their sovereign, and being acquainted with the allegory, I replied with some fervour, in the same strain, “Would to God, Thakoor Sahib, I had the vira-gunt'ha to protect you.” The effect was instantaneous, and the eye of this manly chieftain, who had often fearlessly encountered the foe in battle, filled with tears as, holding out his hand, he said, “At least you listen to our griefs, and speak the language of friendship. Say but the word, and you may command the services of twenty thousand Rahtores.” There is, indeed, no human being more susceptible of excitement, and, under it, of being led to any desperate purpose, whether for good or for evil, than the Rajpút.

page 290 note * Chund, the bard, gives this instance of the compassionate nature of Crishna, taken, as well as the former, from the Mahabharat.

page 290 note † Near the town of Avranches, on the coast of Normandy, is a rock called Mont St. Michel, In ancient times sacred to the Gallic or Celtic Apollo, who was called Belenus; a name which the author from whom we quote observes, “certainly came from the East, and proves that the “littoral provinces of Gaul were visited by the Phœnicians.” “A college of Druidical priestesses “was established there, who sold to seafaring men certain arrows endowed with the peculiar virtue “of allaying storms, if shot into the waves by a young mariner. Upon the vessel arriving safe, “the young archer was sent by the crew to offer thanks and rewards to the priestesses. His pre“sents were accepted in the most graceful manner; and at his departure the fair priestesses, who “had received his embraces, presented to him a number of shells, which afterwards he never “failed to use in adorning his person.”—Tour through France.

When the early Christian warrior consecrated this mount to his protector St. Michel, its name was changed from Mons Jovis (because dedicated to Jupiter), to Tumba, supposed from tumulus, a mound; but as the Saxons and Celts placed pillars on all these mounts, dedicated to the Sun-god Belenus, Bal, or Apollo, SO it is not unlikely that the derivation of Tumha is from the Sanscrit t'humba or st'humba, a pillar, instead of from tumulus.

page 291 note * Hindupáti, vulgò Hinduput, “chief of the Hindu race,” is a title justly appertaining to the Ranas of Méwar. It has, however, been assumed by chieftains scarcely superior to some of his vassals, though with some degree of pretension by Sevaji, who, had he been spared, might have worked out the redemption of his nation, and of the Rana's house, from which he sprung.

page 291 note † See Appendix to this paper, Nos. ix and x.

page 292 note * Numbers, chap. xxxv. v. 11, 12.

page 293 note † Numbers, chap. xxxv. v. 25, and Joshua, chap. xx. v. 6. There was an ancient law of Athens analogous to the Mosaic, by which he who committed “chance-medley” should fly the country for a year, during which his relatives made satisfaction to the relatives of the deceased. The Greeks had asyla for every description of criminals, which could not be violated without infamy. Gibbon gives a memorable instance of disregard of the sanctuary of St. Julian in Auvergne, by the soldiers of the Frank king Theodoric, who divided the spoils of the altar, and made the priests captives: an impiety not only unsanctioned by the son of Clovis, but punished by the death of the offenders, the restoration of the plunder, and the extension of the right of sanctuary five miles around the sepulchre of the holy martyr.

page 293 note * Apollo was the object adored in Delos, as at Nat'hdwara. Numerous Greek proper names can have Sanscrit derivations; and for Delos we have Dewal-es, i. e. “temple of the God. Such is the origin of Debeil (corrupted from Déwal, the temple), the capital of Lower Sinde. The numerous Délwaras (sometimes written Dail) have the same etymology. Déwalwara. i.e. “the place of the temple.”

page 294 note * Pallas gives an admirable and evidently faithful account of the worship of Crishna and other Hindu divinities in the city of Astracan, where a Hindu mercantile colony is established. They are termed Múltani, from the place whence they migrated—Múltan, near the Indus. This class of merchants of the Hindu faith is disseminated over all the countries, from the Indus to the Caspian: and it would have been interesting had the professor given us any account of their period of settlement on the western shore of the Caspian sea. In costume and feature, as represented in the plate given by that author, they have nothing to denote their origin; though their divinities might be seated on any altar on the Ganges. The Múltanis of the “Indeskoi Dvory or Indian Court” at Astracan, have erected a pantheon, in which Crishna, the god of all Vishnuë merchants, is seated, primus inter pares, in front of Juggernat'h, Rama, and his brothers, who stand in the back-ground; while Siva and his consort Ashta-Bhu'ja (the eight-armed), form an intermediate line, in which is also placed a statue which Pallas denominates Múrli; but Pallas mistook the flute (múrali) of the divine Crishna for a rod. The principal figure we shall describe in his own words. “In the middle was placed a small idol with a very high bonnet, called Gupaledshi. “At its right there was a large black stone, and on the left two smaller ones of the same colour, “brought from the Ganges, and regarded by the Hindus as sacred. These fossils were of the “species called Sankara, and appeared to be an impression of a bivalve muscle.” Minute as is the description, our judgment is further aided by the plate. Gupaledshi is evidently Gopalji, the pastoral deity of Vrij (from gao, a cow, and pali, a herdsman). The head-dress worn by him and all the others, is precisely that still worn by Crishna, in the sacred dance at Muttra: and so minute is the delineation, that even the péra or sugar-ball is represented, although the Professor appears to have been ignorant of its use, as he does not name it. He has likewise omitted to notice the representation of the sacred mount of Gird'hana, which separates him from the Hindu Jove and the turreted Cybele (Du'rga), his consort. The black stones are the Saligramas) worshipped by all Vishnuës.

In the names of “N'handigana and Gori,” though the first is called a lion saddled, and the other a male divinity, we easily recognize Nanda. the bull-attendant (Gana) of Siva, and his consort Gouri. Were all travellers to describe what they see with the same accuracy as Pallas, they would confer important obligations on society, and might defy criticism.

It is with heartfelt satisfaction I have to record, from the authority of a gentleman who has dwelt amongst the Hindikis of Astracan, that distance from their ancient abodes has not deteriorated their character for uprightness. Mr. Mitchell, from whose knowledge of Oriental languages the Royal Asiatic Society will some day derive benefit, says, that the reputation of these Hindu colonists, of whom there are about five hundred families, stands very high; and that they bear a preference over all the merchants of other nations settled in this great commercial city.

page 295 note * Other travellers besides Pallas have described Hinduism as existing in the remote parts of the Russian empire, and if nominal resemblances may be admitted, we would instance the strong analogy between the Samoyedes and Tchoudes of Siberia and Finland, and the Sama-Yadús and Joudes of India. The languages of the two former races are said to have a strong affinity, and are classed as Hindu-Germanic by M. Klaproth, on whose learned work, “Asia Polyglotta,” M. Rémusat has given the world an interesting critique, in his Mélanges Asiatiques (tom. i. p. 267), in which he traces these tribes to Central Asia; thus approaching the land of the Getc or Yuti. Now the Yutis and Yadús have much in their early history to warrant the assertion of more than nominal resemblance. The annals of the Yadús of Jessulmér state, that long anterior to Vicrama, they held dominion from Guzni to Samarcand: that they established themselves in those regions after the Mahabharat, or great war; and were again impelled, on the rise of Islamism, within the Indus. As Yadús of the race of Shám or Sam (a title of Crishna) they would be Sama-Yadús; in like manner as the B'hatti tribe are called Shama-b'hatti, the Ashambétti of Abulfuzil. The race of Joude was existing near the Indus in the Emperor Baber's time, who describes them as occupying the mountainous range in the first Do-áb, the very spot mentioned in the annals of the Yadús as their place of halt, on quitting India, twelve centuries before Christ, and thence called Jadu or Yadu-ca-dang, the “hills of Jadu or Yadu.” The peopling of all these regions, from the Indus to remote Tartary, is attributed to the race of Ayu or Indu, both signifying the moon, of which are the Hyas, Aswas (Asi), Yadús, &c., who spread a common language over all Western Asia. Amongst the few words of Hindu-Germanic origin which M. Rémusat gives to prove affinity betwen the Finnish and Samoyede languages is “Micl. Mod, dans le dialecte Caucasien, et Méd, en Slave,” and which, as well as mead, the drink of the Scandinavian warrior, is from the Sanscrit Madhu, a bee. Hence intoxicating beverage is termed Madhva, which supplies another epithet for Crishna, Madhú or Madhava.

page 296 note * Origin of Laws and Government.

page 296 note † Literally “the giver of food.”

page 296 note † ‘Kaniya ca canti band'hna’, ‘to bind on [the neck] the chaplet of Kaniya,’ is the initiator Step

page 297 note * I had one day thrown my net into this lake, which abounded with a variety of fish, when my pastime was interrupted by a message from the regent, Zalim Sing: “Tell Captain Tod that “Kotah and all around it are at his disposal; but these fish belong to Kaniya.” I of course immediately desisted, and the fish were returned to the safeguard of the deity.

page 297 note † A Néshan, or standard, is synonimous with a company.

page 297 note ‡ Sheopúr or Siva-púr, the city of Sheo or Siva, the god of war, whose battle-shout is Hur; and hence one of his epithets, as Heri is that of Crishna or Kaniya.

page 297 note § Radha was the name of the chief of the Gopis or nymphs of Vrij and the beloved of Kaniya.

page 297 note | See note, p. 288.

page 297 note ¶ In October 1807 I rambled through all these countries, then scarcely known by name to us. At that time Sheopúr was independent, and its prince treated me with the greatest hospitality. In 1809 I witnessed its fall, when following with the embassy in the train of the Mahratta leader.

page 299 note * Chappun cúla Yadú.

page 299 note † Qu. Japhet?

page 299 note ‡ Also called Vaiva-swata Manú—“the man, son of the sun.”

page 299 note § Ella, the earth—the Saxon Ertha. The Germans chiefly worshipped Tuisco or Teutates (Mercury) and Ertha, who are the Buddha and Ella of the Rajpúts.

page 299 note | A male divinity with the Rajpúts, the Tatars, and ancient Germans.

page 299 note ¶ ‘Triple energy;’—the Hermes Triplex of the Egyptians.

page 299 note ** I shall here subjoin an extract of the rise and progress of Vishnúism, as written at my desire by the Múkhia of the temple:

“Twenty-five years of the Dwapur (the brazen age) were yet unexpired, when the incarnation (avatar) of Sri Crishna took place. Of these eleven were passed at Gokul (a), and fourteen at Mat'hura. There he used to manifest himself personally, especially at Goverd'hun. But when the Kaliyúg (the iron age) commenced he retired to Dwarica, an island separated by the

(a) A small town and island in the Jumna, below Mat'hura. Hence one of Crishna's titles is Gokul-Nat'h, “lord of Gokul.”

the ocean from Bharatkhund (b), where he passed a hundred years before he went to heaven. In Samvat 937 (A.D. 881) God decreed that the Hindu faith should be overturned, and that the Túrishka (c) should rule. Then the jézéya, or capitation-tax, was inflicted on the head of the Hindu. Their faith also suffered much from the Jains and the various infidel (asúra) sects which abounded. The Jains were so hostile that Brimha manifested himself in the shape of Sancara Acharya, who destroyed them and their religion at Benares. In Gúzerat, by their magic, they made the moon appear at Amavus (d). Sancara foretold to its prince, Sid Raj (e), the flood then approaching, who escaped in a boat and fled to T'hoda, on which occasion all the Vedyas (f) (magicians) in that country perished.”

(b) The channel which separates the island of Dwarica from the main land is filled up, except in spring-tides. I passed it when it was dry.

(c) We possess no record of the invasion of India in A.D. 881, by the Túrki tribes, half a century after Mahmoun's expedition from Zabulist'han against Chitore, in the reign of Rawul Khoman.

(d) The ides of the month, when the moon is obscured.

(e) He ruled Samvat 1151 (A.D. 1095) to S. 1201 (A.D. 1145).

(f) Still used as a term of reproach to the Jains and Buddhists, in which, and other points, as Ari (the foe, qu. Aria?), they bear a strong resemblance to the followers of the Arian Zerdusht, or Zoroaster. Amongst other peculiarities, the ancient Persian fire-worshipper, like the present Jain, placed a bandage over the mouth while worshipping.

page 301 note * Hercules, Mercury, and Apollo; Bala-Ram, Buddha, and Kaniya.

page 301 note † The ‘God Bal,’ the Vivifier, the Sun.

page 301 note ‡ Buddha signifies ‘wisdom.’

page 301 note § Job, ch. xxxi, v. 26, 27, 28.

page 301 note | Chand, the bard, says, after having separately invoked the three persons of the Hindu triad, that he who believes them distinct, “hell will be his portion.”

page 302 note * Of the twenty-four incarnations of Buddha, or divine wisdom, Nema-Nat'h, the twentysecond, was of the same stock (Yadú) and family as Crishna.

page 302 note † It was the serpent (Buddha) who ravished Ella, daughter of Icshwaca, the son of Manu, whence the distinctive epithet of his descendants in the East, Manús, or men. An ancient sculptured column in the south of India, evidently points to the primeval mystery. In Portici there is an exact lingam entwined with a brazen serpent, brought from the temple of Isis at Pompeii; and many of the same kind, in mosaic, decorate the floors of the dwelling-houses. But the most singular coincidence is in the wreath of Lingams and the Yoni over the door of the minor temple of Isis at Pompeii; and on another front is painted the rape of Venus by Mercury (Buddha and Ella). The lunar race, according to the Purans, are the issue of the rape of Ella by Buddha.

page 302 note ‡ Aphah is a serpent in Hebrew. Ahé and Serp are two of its many appellations in Sanscrit.

page 302 note § The Mahabharat records constant wars from ancient times amongst the children of Surya (the sun) and the Tak or Takshac (serpent) races. The horse of the sun, liberated preparatory to sacrifice, by the father of Rama, was seized by the Tacshac Anunta; and Janméja, king of Dehli, grandson of Pandu, was killed by one of the same race. In both instances, the Takshac is literally rendered the snake.

The successor of Janméja carried war into the seats of this Ták, or serpent race, and is said to have sacrificed 20,000 of them in revenge; but although it is specifically stated that he subsequently compelled them to sign tributary engagements (paénameh), the Brahmans have nevertheless distorted a plain historical fact by a literal and puerile interpretation.

The Parætaæ; (Mountain-Tak) of Alexander were doubtless of this race, as was his ally Taxiles, which appellation was titular, as he was called Omphis till his father's death.

Taxiles may be compounded of es, lord or chief, sila, rock or mountain, and Tak,—“lord of the mountain Tak,” whose capital was in the range west of the Indus. We are indebted to the Emperor Baber for the exact position of the capital of this celebrated race, which he passed in his route of conquest. We have, however, an intermediate notice of it between Alexander and Baber, in the early history of the Yadu Bhatti, who came in conflict with the Taks on their expulsion from Zabulist'han and settlement in the Punjáb.

page 303 note * Tyntees crore devata.

page 304 note * In this peninsula and the adjacent continent was the cradle of Buddhism, and here are three of the ‘five’ sacred mounts of their faith, i. e. Girnar, Satrúnja, and Abu. The author purposes giving, hereafter, an account of his journey through these classic regions.

page 304 note † The Buddhists and Jains are stigmatized as Védyavan, which signifying ‘possessed of science,’ is interpreted ‘magician.’

page 304 note ‡ Hence called Arishta-Nemi, ‘the black Nemi.’

page 305 note * From cha, six; and tar, a string or wire.

page 305 note † Strabo says, the Greeks consider music as originating from Thrace and Asia, of which countries were Orpheus, Museus, &c, and that others “qui regardent toute l'Asie jusqu'à l'Inde comme un pays consacré à Dionysius, rapportent à cette contrée l'invention de presque toutes les parties de la musique. Nous les voyons tantôt qualifier la Cythare d'Asiatique, tantôt donner aux flutes les épithètes de Phrygiennes. Les noms de certains instrumens, tels que Nablas ou Nabla et d'autres encore, sont tirés des langues barbares.” This Nabla of Strabo is possibly the Tabla, the small tabor of India. If Strabo took his orthography from the Persian or Arabic, a single point would constitute the difference between the N () and the T ().

page 307 note * An account of the state of musical science amongst the Hindus of early ages, and a comparison between it and that of Europe, is yet a desideratum in Oriental literature. From what we already know of the science, it appears to have attained a theoretical precision yet unknown to Europe, and that, at a period when even Greece was little removed from barbarism. The inspirations of the bards of the first ages were all set to music; and the children of the most powerful potentates of both races (Surya and Chandra) sang the episodes of the great epics of Valmika and Vyasu. There is a distinguished member of our Society, and perhaps the only one, who could fill up this hiatus; and we may hope that the leisure and inclination of the Right Honourable Sir Gore Ouseley will tempt him to enlighten us on this most interesting point.

page 307 note * I have often been struck with a characteristic analogy in the sculptures of the most ancient Saxon cathedrals in England and on the Continent, to Kaniya and the Gopis. Both may be intended to represent divine harmony. Did the Asi and Jits of Scandinavia, the ancestors of the Saxons, bring them from Asia ?

page 307 note † Trans. Royal Asiatic Society, vol. i. p. 146.Google Scholar

page 307 note ‡ Madhu in the dialect of Vrij.

page 308 note * We meet with various little philosophical phenomena used as similies in this rhapsody of Jydéva. These aërolites, mentioned by a poet the contemporary of David and Solomon, are but recently known to the European philosopher.

page 309 note * This is in allusion to the colour of Crishna, a dark blue.

page 309 note † The Indian Pluto; she is addressing the Yamuna.

page 309 note ‡ Thus the ancient statues do not present merely the sculptor's fancy in the zone of bells with which they are ornamented.

page 310 note * This is a favourite metaphor with the bards of India, to describe the alternations of the exciting causes of love: and it is yet more important as shewing that Jydêva was the philosopher as well as the poet of nature, in making the action of the moon upon the tides the basis of this beautiful simile.

page 310 note † It will be again necessary to call to mind the colour of Crishna, to appreciate this elegant metaphor.

page 310 note ‡ This idea is quite new.

page 310 note § Childe Harold, Canto III.

page 311 note * The anniversary of the birth of Kaniya is celebrated with splendour at Sindia's court, where the author frequently witnessed it, during a ten years' residence.

page 311 note † The priests of Kaniya, probably so called from the chob or club with which, on the annual festival, they assault the castle of Kansa, the tyrant usurper of Crishna's birthright, who, like Herod, ordered the slaughter of all the youth of Vrij, that Crishna might not escape. These Chobii are most likely the Sobii of Alexander, who occupied the chief towns of the Punjáb, and who, according to Arrian, worshipped the Hercules (Heri-cu-les, qu. Herakles ?) chief of the race of Heri, and were armed with clubs. The mimic assault of Kansa's castle by some hundreds of these robust church militants, with their long clubs covered with iron rings, is well worth seeing.

page 311 note ‡ Jalindra on the Indus is described by the Emperor Baber as a very singular spot, having numerous caves. The deity of the caves of Jalindra is the tutelary deity of the Prince of Marwar.

page 313 note * “In Hebrew heres signifies the sun, but in Arabic the meaning of the radical word is to guard, preserve; and of haris, guardian, preserver.”—Volney's Ruins of Empires, p. 316.

page 313 note † The heaven of Vishnu, called Vaicúnt'ha, is entirely of gold, and 80,000 miles in circumference. Its edifices, pillars, and ornaments, are composed of precious stones. The crystal waters of the Ganges form a river in Vaicúnt'ha, where are lakes filled with blue, red, and white water-lilies, each of a hundred and even a thousand petals. On a throne glorious as the meridian sun, resting on water-lilies, is Vishnû, with Lacshmi or Sri, the goddess of abundance (the Ceres of the Egyptians and Greeks), on his right hand, surrounded by spirits who constantly celebrate the praise of Vishnû and Lacshmi, who are served by his votaries, and to whom the eagle (garuda) is door-keeper.—Extract from the Mahabharat.—See Ward on the History and Religion of the Hindus, vol. ii. p. 14.

page 314 note * Supposing these coincidences in the fabulous history of the ancient nations of Greece and Asia to be merely fortuitous, they must excite interest; but conjoined with various others in the history of the Heriúlás of India and the Heraclidœ of Greece, I cannot resist the idea that they were connected, and that Ramesa, Heri, Buddha, and Yudishtra, &c. &c. were conquerors or hierarchs deified.

page 315 note * Gibbon records a similar offering of 200,000 sesterces to the Roman church, by a stranger, in the reign of Decius.

page 316 note † I enjoyed no small degree of favour with the supreme pontiff of the shrine of Apollo and all his votaries, for effecting a meeting of the seven statues of Vishnu. In contriving this, I had not only to reconcile ancient animosities between the priests of the different shrines, in order to obtain a free passport for the gods, but to pledge myself to the princes in whose capitals they were established, for their safe return: for they dreaded lest bribery might entice the priests to fix them elsewhere, which would have involved their loss of sanctity, dignity, and prosperity. It cost me no little trouble, and still more anxiety, to keep the assembled multitudes at peace with each other, for they are as outrageous as any sectarians in contesting the supreme power and worth of their respective forms (rúpa). Yet they all separated not only without violence, but without even any attempt at robbery, so common on those occasions.

page 317 note * The pérn of Mat'hura can only be made from the vaters of the Yamuna, from whence it is yet conveyed to Nonanda at Nat'hdwara, and with curds forms his evening repast

page 318 note * Bhardhwaja was a celebrated founder of a sect in the early ages.

page 318 note † Gúr is an epithet applied to Vrishpati, “Lord of the Bull,” the Indian Jupiter, who is called the G, r, preceptor or guardian of the gods.

page 319 note * I am not aware of the import of Tyturi.

page 319 note † Hence his epithet Pitumbra, under which he is worshipped by the Rana. Synonimous with this is the name of Pandurang, by which he is chiefly known in the Dekhan; from Pandu, yellow ocre, and rang, colour.

page 320 note * The high priest of Jalindra-nat'h used to appear at the head of a cavalcade far more numerous than any feudal lord of Marwar. A sketch of this personage will appear elsewhere. These Brahmans were not a jot behind the ecclesiastical lords of the middle ages, who are thus characterized:—“Les seigneurs ecclésiastiques, malgré l'humilité chrétienne ne se sont pas “montrés moins orgueilleux que les nobles laïcs. Le doyen du chapitre de Notre Dame du “Port, à Clermont, pour montrer sa grande noblesse, officiail avec toute la pompe féodale.“Etant à l'autel, il avait l'oiseau sur la perche gauche, et on portait devant lui la hallebarde; on “la lui portait aussi de la même manière pendant qu'on chantait l'évangile, et aux processions il “avait lui-même l'oiseau sur le poing, et il marchait à la tête de ses serviteurs, menant ses “chiens de chasse.” —Dict, de l'Anc. Régime, p. 380.

page 320 note † The first letter I received on reaching England after my long residence in India was from this priest, filled with anxious expressions for my health, and speedy return to protect the lands and sacred kine of Apollo.

page 320 note * The great Rahtore queen. There were two of this tribe; she was the queen-mother.

page 320 note † An endearing epithet, applied to children, from larla, beloved.

page 320 note ‡ It is customary to call these grants to religious orders “grants of land,” although they entitle only the rents thereof; for there is no seizin of the land itself, as numerous inscriptions testify, and which, as well as the present, prove the proprietary right to be in the cultivator only. The tamba-patra,(a) or copper-plate patent (by which such grants are properly designated) of Yasóvarma, the Pramara prince of Ujayani, seven hundred years ago, is good evidence that the rents only are granted; he commands the crown tenants of the two villages assigned to the temple “to pay all dues as they arise—money-rent—first share of produce” not a word of seizin of the soil.—See Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society. vol. i. p. 223.

(a) To distinguish them from grants of land to feudal tenants, which patents (putta) are manuscript.

page 321 note * A khal is one of the heaps after the corn is thrashed out, about five maunds.

page 322 note * The gadda-ghál is a punishment unknown to any but the Hindu code; the hieroglyphic import appears on the pillar, and must be seen to be understood.

page 322 note † Revenue officers.

page 322 note ‡ Literally immortal, from mura, death, and the privative prefix.

page 322 note § Schools or colleges of the Yatis.

page 322 note ‖ Priests of the Jains.

page 322 note ¶ Kúnchi and múti are both a handful: the first is applied to grain in the stalk at harvest time; the other to such edibles in merchandize as sugar, raisins, &c. collectively termed keranoh.

page 322 note ** Ric is an ancient title applied to the highest class of priests; Ric-Ricsha-Ric-iswára, to royalty in old times. I leave to antiquarians the derivation of this terminating syllable of the Gothic kings, the Alarics, Chilperics, Theodorics, &c.

page 322 note †† Adhán, is the richest land, laying under the protection of the town walls: mal or malaiti land, is land not irrigated from wells.

page 322 note ‡‡ In all a hundred and twenty bígahs, or about forty acres.

page 323 note * The chief of Délwara.

page 323 note † There are other grants later than this, which prove that all grants were renewed in every new reign. This grant also proves that no chief has the power to alienate without his sovereign's sanction.

page 323 note ‡ Epithet indicative of greatness (of the deity).

page 323 note § Here is another proof that the sovereign can only alienate the revenues (hasil), and though every thing upon and about the grant, yet not the soil. The nim-sím is almost as powerful an expression as the old grant to the Rawdons:— “From earth to heaven “From heaven to hell, “For thee and thine “Therein to dwell.”

page 324 note * The high priest.

page 324 note † All these are royalties, and the Rana was much blamed, even by his Vishnuva ministers, for sacrificing them even to Kaniya.

page 324 note ‡ Followers of Vishnu, Crishna, or Kaniya, chiefly mercantile.

page 324 note § Many merchants, by the connivance of the conductors of the caravans of Apollo's goods, contrived to smuggle their goods to Nath'dwara, and to the disgrace of the high priest or his underlings, this traffic was sold for their personal advantage. It was a delicate thing to search these caravans, or to prevent the loss to the state from the evasion of the duties. The Rana durst not interfere, lest he might ineur the penalty of his own anathemas. The author's influence with the high priest put a stop to this.

page 324 note ‖ This extent of sanctuary is an innovation of the present Rana's, with many others equally unwise.

page 325 note * Lands for the queens or others of the immediate household.

page 325 note † Father of the present high priest, Damodurji.

page 325 note ‡ Amongst the items of the Chartulary of Dumfermline, is the tythe of the oil of the Greenland whale fisheries.

page 325 note § A handful of every basket of vegetables sold in the public markets.