CHAPTER 4

Altered conditions of the Princes of Marwar—Installation of Raja Udai Singh—Not acknowledged by the most powerful clans until the death of Chandarsen—Historical retrospect—The three chief epochs of Marwar history, from the conquest to its dependence on the empire—Order of succession changed, with change of capital, in Mewar, Amber, and Marwar—Branches to which the succession is confined—Dangers of mistaking these—Examples—Jodha regulates the fiefs—The eight great nobles of Marwar—These regulations maintained by Maldeo, who added to the secondary fiefs—Fiefs perpetuated in the elder branches—The brothers and sons of Jodha—Various descriptions of fiefs—Antiquity of the Rajput feudal system—Akbar maintains it—Paternity of the Rajput sovereigns not a fiction, as in Europe—The lowest Rajput claims kindred with the sovereign—The name Udai Singh fatal to Rajputana—Bestows his sister Jodh Bai on Akbar—Advantages to the Rathors of this marriage—Numerous progeny of Udai Singh—Establishes the fiefs of Govindgarh and Pisangan—Kishangarh and Ratlam—Remarkable death of Raja Udai Singh—Anecdotes—Issue of Udai Singh—Table of descent 960

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