CHAPTER 14

Raja Bhim seizes upon the _gaddi_—Discomfiture of his competitor, Zalim Singh—Bhim destroys all the other claimants to succession, excepting Man Singh—Blockaded in Jalor—Sallies from the garrison for supplies—Prince Man heads one of them—Incurs the risk of capture—Is preserved by the Ahor chief; Raja Bhim offends his nobles—They abandon Marwar—The fief of Nimaj attacked—Jalor reduced to the point of surrender—Sudden and critical death of Raja Bhim—Its probable cause—The Vaidyas, or ‘cunning-men,’ who surround the prince—Accession of Raja Man—Rebellion of Sawai Singh of Pokaran—Conspiracy of Chopasni—Declaration of the pregnancy of a queen of Raja Bhim—Convention with Raja Man—Posthumous births—Their evil consequences in Rajwara—A child born—Sent off by stealth to Pokaran, and its birth kept a secret—Named Dhonkal—Raja Man evinces indiscreet partialities—Alienates the Champawats—Birth of the posthumous son of Raja Bhim promulgated—The chiefs call on Raja Man to fulfil the terms of the convention—The mother disclaims the child—The Pokaran chief sends the infant Dhonkal to the sanctuary of Abhai Singh of Khetri—Sawai opens his underplot—Embroils Raja Man with the courts of Amber and Mewar—He carries the pretender Dhonkal to Jaipur—Acknowledged and proclaimed as Raja of Marwar—The majority of the chiefs support the pretender—The Bikaner prince espouses his cause—Armies called in the field—Baseness of Holkar, who deserts Raja Man—The armies approach—Raja Man’s chiefs abandon him—He attempts suicide—Is persuaded to fly—He gains Jodhpur—Prepares for defence—Becomes suspicious of all his kin—Refuses them the honour of defending the castle—They join the allies, who invest Jodhpur—The city taken and plundered—Distress of the besiegers—Amir Khan’s conduct causes a division—His flight from Marwar—Pursued by the Jaipur commander—Battle—Jaipur force destroyed, and the city invested—Dismay of the Raja—Breaks up the siege of Jodhpur—Pays £200,000 for a safe passage to Jaipur—The spoils of Jodhpur intercepted by the Rathors, and wrested from the Kachhwahas—Amir Khan formally accepts service with Raja Man, and repairs to Jodhpur with the four Rathor chiefs 1077

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