CHAPTER 1
=Limits of Jaisalmer.=—Jaisalmer is the modern name of a tract of country comprehended, according to ancient geography, in Marusthali, the desert of India. It is termed Mer in the traditional nomenclature of this region, from being a rocky (mer) oasis in the heart of the sandy desert, interesting both from its physical features and its position as the Ultima Thule of independent Hinduism. Yet, however entitled to regard from its local peculiarities or its products, the history of the tribe which inhabits it presents a still more engrossing subject for investigation.
=The Bhatti Tribe.=—This tribe is the Bhatti, a branch of the Yadu or Jadon race, whose power was paramount in India three thousand years ago; and the prince now governing this distant [217] corner of India claims descent from those Yadu kings who ruled from the Yamuna to the ‘world’s end,’[7.1.1] at that remote period.
It were preposterous to expect to find, in the annals of a people so subject to the vicissitudes of fortune, an unbroken series of historical evidence in support of this ancestry; but they have preserved links of the chain which indicate original affinities. In tracing the Yadu-Bhatti history, two hypotheses alternately present themselves to our minds, each of which rests upon plausible grounds; the one supposing the Bhattis to be of Scythic, the other of Hindu origin. This incongruity may be reconciled by presuming the co-mixture of the two primitive races; by enlarging our views, and contemplating the barrier, which in remote ages separated Scythia and India, as ideal; and admitting that the various communities, from the Caspian to the Ganges, were members of one grand family, having a common language and common faith,[7.1.2] in that ancient central empire whose existence has been contended for and denied by the first names in science;[7.1.3] the Bharatavarsha of the Hindus, the Indo-Scythic empire of king Bharat, son of Budha, the ancestor of the Yadu-Bhattis, now confined to a nook of the desert.[7.1.4]
It would be vain to speculate upon the first colonization of India proper by the Rajkula, or ‘royal tribes.’ It appears to have possessed an indigenous population prior to the races of Surya, or Indu, though the genealogies which give the origin of these degraded races of Kabas,[7.1.5] Bhils, Meras, Gonds, etc., assert that they were all from the same stem, and that their political debasement was the effect of moral causes. But as there is no proof of this, we must attribute the fable to the desire of the Brahman [218] archaeologist to account for the origin of all things. Modern inquiries into these matters have been cramped by an erroneous and contracted view of the power of this ancient people, and the direction of that power. It has been assumed that the prejudices originating in Muslim conquests, which prevented the Hindu chieftain from crossing the forbidden waters of the Attock, and still more from “going down to the sea in ships,” had always existed. But were it not far more difficult to part with erroneous impressions than to receive new and correct views, it would be apparent that the first of these restrictions is of very recent origin, and on the other hand, that the Hindus of remote ages possessed great naval power, by which communication must have been maintained with the coasts of Africa,[7.1.6] Arabia, and Persia, as well as the Australian Archipelago.[7.1.7] It is ridiculous,
Since Mr. M. wrote, the revelation of the architectural antiquities in these isles, consequent to British conquests, establishes the fact that they were colonized by the Suryas, whose mythological and heroic history is sculptured in their edifices and maintained in their writings. Nor should we despair that similar discoveries may yet disclose the link which of yore connected India with Egypt, and to which Ceylon was but the first stepping-stone. That Rama possessed great naval means is beyond doubt, inherited from his ancestor Sagara ‘the sea-king,’ twenty generations before the hero of Lanka, which place I have long imagined to be Ethiopia; whence ancient writers assert Egypt to have had her institutions, and that the Ethiopians were of Indian origin. Cuvier, quoting Syncellus, even assigns the reign of Amenophis as the epoch of the colonization of Ethiopia from India.—P. 180 of his ‘_Discours_,’ etc. [For early Hindu voyages to Java and the neighbouring region see Smith, _HFA_, 259 ff.; _BG_, i. Part i. 489 ff.]] with all the knowledge now in our possession, to suppose that the Hindus always confined themselves within their gigantic barriers, the limits of modern India. The cosmography of the Puranas, imperfect and puerile as it is, and some of the texts of Manu, afford abundant evidence of an intimate intercourse between the countries from the Oxus to the Ganges; and even in their allegories, we trace fresh streams of knowledge flowing into India from that central region, stigmatized in latter days as the land of the Barbarian (Mlechchha). Manu corroborates the Puranas, from which we infer the fact that in distant ages one uniform faith extended from Sakadvipa, the continent of the Sakae, to the Ganges.[7.1.8] These observations [219] it is necessary to premise before we attempt, by following the tide of Yadu migration during the lapse of thirty centuries, to trace them from Indraprastha, Suryapura, Mathura, Prayaga, Dwarka, Jadu-ka-dang (the mountains of Jud), Bahra, Gajni in Zabulistan; and again refluent into India, at Salbahana or Salpura in the Panjab, Tanot, Derawar, Lodorva in the desert, and finally Jaisalmer, founded in S. 1212, or A.D. 1156.
Having elsewhere descanted at length on the early history of the Yadus,[7.1.9] we may refer those who are likely to take an interest in this discussion to that paper, and proceed at once to glean what we can from the native annals before us, from the death of their leader, Hari-Krishna, to the dispersion of the Yadus from India. The bare fact of their migration altogether out of India proper proves that the original intercourse, which conducted Budha, the patriarch of the Yadu race, into India[7.1.10] (where he espoused Ila, a princess of the Surya race, and by whom his issue was multiplied), was not forgotten, though fifty generations had elapsed from the patriarchal Budha to Hari—to whom and the chronicle we return.
=Early Legends.=—“Prayaga[7.1.11] is the cradle of the Yadus who are Somavansa (of the lunar race). Thence Mathura founded by Pururavas remained for ages the seat of power. The name of Jadon (Yadu), of whom there were fifty-six tribes,[7.1.12] became famous in the world, and of this race was the mighty Hari-Krishna, who founded Dwarka.”
The grand international conflicts amongst the “fifty-six Yadu tribes,” at Kurukshetra, and subsequently at Dwarka, are sufficiently known to the reader of Hindu history [220], and may be referred to elsewhere.[7.1.13] These events are computed to have happened about 1100 years before Christ. On the dispersion of these races many abandoned India, and amongst these, two of the many sons of Krishna. This deified leader of the Yadus had eight wives, and the offspring of the first and seventh, by a singular fate, now occupy what may be termed the outposts of Hinduism.[7.1.14]
Rukmini was the senior of these wives; and the eldest of her sons was Pradyumna, who was married to a princess of Vidarbha; she bore him two sons, Aniruddha and Vajranabha, and from the latter the Bhattis claim descent. Vajra had two sons, Sankhanabha and Khira.[7.1.15]
“When the Jadons were exterminated in the conflict at Dwarka, and Hari had gone to heaven, Vajra was on his way from Mathura to see his father, but had only marched twenty coss (forty miles), when he received intelligence of that event, which had swept away his kindred. He died upon the spot, when Nabha was elected king and returned to Mathura, but Khira pursued his journey to Dwarka.
“The thirty-six tribes of Rajputs hitherto oppressed by the Yadus, who had long held universal dominion, now determined to be revenged. Nabha was compelled to fly the holy city [Dwarka]; he became prince of Marusthali in the west.
“Thus far from the Bhagavat” (says the Bhatti chronicler), and I continue the history of the Bhattis, by the Brahman Sukhdharma of Mathura.
“Nabha had issue Prithibahu.
“Khira had two sons, Jareja and Judhbhan.[7.1.16]
“Judhbhan was on a pilgrimage; the goddess heard his vows; she awoke him from his sleep, and promised whatever he desired. ‘Give me land that I may inhabit,’ said the youth; ‘Rule in these hills,’ replied the goddess, and disappeared. When Judhbhan awoke, and was yet pondering on the vision of the night, a confused noise assailed him; and looking out, he discovered that the prince of the country had just died without issue, and they were disputing who should succeed him. The prime minister said, ‘he dreamed that a descendant of Krishna had arrived at Bahra,’[7.1.17] and proposed [221] to seek him out and invest him as their prince. All assented, and Judhbhan was elected king. He became a great prince, had a numerous progeny, and the place of their abode was henceforth styled Jadu-ka-dang, ‘the mountains of Jadu.’
“Prithibahu (‘the arm of the earth’), son of Nabha, prince of Marusthali, inherited the insignia of Sri-Krishna with the regal umbrella (_chhatri_) made by Viswakarma. He had a son Bahubal (‘strong arm’), who espoused Kamalavati, daughter of Vijaya Singh, prince of Malwa, who gave in dower (_daeja_)[7.1.18] one thousand horses of Khorasan, one hundred elephants, pearls, gems, and gold innumerable, and five hundred handmaids, with chariots and bedsteads of gold. The Puar (Pramar) Kamalavati became the chief queen and bore her lord one son,
“Bahu, killed by a fall from his horse; he left one son,
“Subahu, who was poisoned by his wife, a daughter of Mand Raja, Chauhan of Ajmer; he left a son,
“Rajh, who reigned twelve years. He was married to Subhag Sundari, daughter of Ber Singh, prince of Malwa. Having, when pregnant, dreamed that she was delivered of a white elephant, the astrologers, who interpreted this as an indication of greatness, desired he might be named Gaj:[7.1.19] as he approached manhood, the coco-nut came from Judhbhan, prince of Purabdes (the eastern), and was accepted. At the same time tidings arrived that from the shores of the ocean, the barbarians (Mlechchha), who had formerly attacked Subahu,[7.1.20] were again advancing, having Farid Shah of Khorasan at [222] the head of four lakhs of horse, from whom the people fled in dismay. The Raja sent scouts to obtain accurate intelligence, and marched to Hariau to meet him; while the foe encamped two coss from Kunjshahr.[7.1.21] A battle ensued, in which the invader was defeated with the loss of thirty thousand men, and four thousand on the part of the Hindus. But the foeman rallied, and Raja Rajh, who again encountered him, was wounded and died just as prince Gaj returned with Hansavati, his bride, daughter of Judhbhan of the east. In two battles the king of Khorasan was vanquished, when he obtained an auxiliary in the king of Rum (Romi-pati), to establish the Koran and the law of the prophet in infidel lands. While the armies of the Asuras were thus preparing their strength, Raja Gaj called a council of ministers. There being no stronghold of importance, and it being impossible to stand against numbers, it was determined to erect a fortress amidst the mountains of the north. Having summoned his friends to his aid, he sought counsel of the guardian goddess of his race; who [223] foretold that the power of the Hindus was to cease, but commanded him to erect a fort and call it Gajni. While it was approaching completion, news came that the kings of Rum and Khorasan were near at hand:
_Rūmī-pat, Khorāsān-pat, haya, gaya, pākhar, pāī, Chinta teri, chit lagi; sūna Jadpat Rāē._[7.1.22]
The stick wounded the drum of the Jadon prince; the army was formed, gifts were distributed, and the astrologers were commanded to assign such a moment for marching as might secure the victory.
“Thursday (Brihaspati) the 13th of Magh, the enlightened half of the moon, when one ghari[7.1.23] of the day had fled, was the auspicious hour; and the drum of departure sounded. That day he marched eight coss, and encamped at Dulapar. The combined kings advanced, but in the night the Shah of Khorasan died of indigestion. When it was reported to the king of Rum (Shah Sikandar Rumi) that Shah Mamrez was dead, he became alarmed and said, ‘while we mortals have grand schemes in hand, He above has other views for us.’ Still his army advanced like waves of the ocean; caparisons and chains clank on the backs of elephants, while instruments of war resound through the host. Elephants move like walking mountains; the sky is black with clouds of dust; bright helms reflect the rays of the sun. Four coss (eight miles) separated the hostile armies. Raja Gaj and his chieftains performed their ablutions, and keeping the Joginis[7.1.24] in their rear, advanced to the combat. Each host rushed on like famished tigers; the earth trembled; the heavens were overcast; nor was aught visible in the gloom but the radiant helm. War-bells resound; horses neigh; masses of men advance on each other, like the dark rolling clouds of Bhadon. Hissing speeds the feathered dart; the lion roar of the warriors is re-echoed; the edge of the sword deluges the ground with blood; on both sides the blows resound on the crackling bones. Here was Judhrae, there the Khans and Amirs, as if Time had encountered his fellow. Mighty warriors strew the earth; heroes fall in the cause of their lords. The army of the Shah fled; he left twenty-five thousand souls entangled in the net of destruction; he abandoned elephants and horses, and even his throne. Seven thousand Hindus lay dead on the field. The drum of victory resounded, and the Jadon returned triumphant to his capital [224].
“On Sunday, the 3rd of Baisakh, the spring season (Vasant), the Rohini Nakshatra, and Samvat Dharmaraja (Yudhishthira) 3008,[7.1.25] seated on the throne of Gajni, he maintained the Jadon race. With this victory his power became firm: he conquered all the countries to the west, and sent an ambassador to Kashmir to call its prince Kandrapkel[7.1.26] to his presence. But the prince refused the summons: he said the world would scoff at him if he attended the stirrup of another without being first worsted in fight. Raja Gaj invaded Kashmir; and married the daughter of its prince, by whom he had a son, called Salbahan.
“When this child had attained the age of twelve, tidings of another invasion came from Khorasan. Raja Gaj shut himself up for three entire days in the temple of Kuladevi:[7.1.27] on the fourth day the goddess appeared and revealed to him his destiny; the Gajni would pass from his hands, but that his posterity would reinherit it, not as Hindus but as Muslims; and directed him to send his son Salbahan amongst the Hindus of the east, there to erect a city to be named after him. She said that he would have fifteen sons, whose issue would multiply; ‘that he (Raja Gaj) would fall in the defence of Gajni, but would gain a glorious reward hereafter.’
“Having heard his fate revealed Raja Gaj convened his family and kin, and on pretence of a pilgrimage to Juala-mukhi,[7.1.28] he caused them to depart, with the prince Salbahan, for the east.
“Soon after the foe approached within five coss of Gajni. Leaving therein his uncle Sahideo for its defence, Raja Gaj marched to meet him. The king of Khorasan divided his army into five divisions; the Raja formed his into three: a desperate conflict ensued, in which both the king and the Raja were slain. The battle lasted five _pahars_,[7.1.29] and a hundred thousand Mirs and thirty thousand Hindus strewed the field. The king’s son invested Gajni; for thirty days it was defended by Sahideo, when he performed the Sakha,[7.1.30] and nine thousand valiant men gave up their lives.
=Sālivāhana.=—“When tidings of this fatal event were conveyed to Salbahan, for twelve days the ground became his bed.[7.1.31] He at length reached the Panjab, where he fixed on a spot with abundance of water, and having collected his clansmen around him, he laid the foundation of a city which he named after himself, Salbahanpur. The surrounding [225] Bhumias attended, and acknowledged his supremacy. Seventy-two years of the era of Vikrama had elapsed when Salbahanpur was founded, upon Sunday, the 8th of the month of Bhadon.[7.1.32]
“Salbahan conquered the whole region of the Panjab. He had fifteen sons, who all became Rajas: namely, Baland, Rasalu, Dharmangad, Vacha, Rupa, Sundar, Lekh, Jaskaran, Nema, Mat, Nipak, Gangau, Jagau; all of whom, by the strength of their own arms, established themselves in independence.
“The coco-nut from Raja Jaipal Tuar was sent from Delhi, and accepted.[7.1.33] Baland proceeded to Delhi, whose prince advanced to meet him. On his return with his bride, Salbahan determined to redeem Gajni from the foe and avenge his father’s death. He crossed the Attock to encounter Jalal, who advanced at the head of twenty thousand men. Crowned with victory, he regained possession of Gajni, where he left Baland, and returned to his capital in the Panjab; he soon after died, having ruled thirty-three years and nine months.
=Bāland.=—“Baland succeeded. His brothers had now established themselves in all the mountainous tracts of the Panjab. But the Turks[7.1.34] began rapidly to increase, and to subjugate all beneath their sway, and the lands around Gajni were again in their power. Baland had no minister, but superintended in person all the details of his government. He had seven sons: Bhatti, Bhupati, Kalar, Janj,[7.1.35] Sarmor, Bhainsrekha, Mangreo. The second son Bhupati (_i.e._ lord of the earth) had a son, Chakito, from whom is descended the Chakito (Chagatai) tribe [226].[7.1.36]
“Chakito had eight sons, namely, Deosi, Bharu, Khemkhan, Nahar, Jaipal,[7.1.37] Dharsi, Bijli Khan, Shah Samand.
“Baland, who resided at Salbahanpur, left Gajni to the charge of his grandson Chakito; and as the power of the barbarian (Mlechchha) increased, he not only entertained troops of that race, but all his nobles were of the same body. They offered, if he would quit the religion of his fathers, to make him master of Balkh, Bokhara, where dwelt the Usbek race, whose king had no offspring but one daughter. Chakito married her, and became king of Balkh, Bokhara, and lord of twenty-eight thousand horse. Between Balkh and Bokhara runs a mighty river, and Chakito was king of all from the gate of Balakhshan to the face of Hindustan; and from him is descended the tribe of Chakito Mongols.[7.1.38]
“Kalar, third son of Baland, had eight sons, whose descendants are designated Kalar.[7.1.39] Their names were, Sheodas, Ramdas, Aso, Kistna, Sama, Ganga, Jassa, Bhaga; almost all of whom became Musalmans. They are a numerous race, inhabiting the mountainous countries west of the river,[7.1.40] and notorious robbers.
“Janj, the fourth son, had seven sons: Champa, Gokul, Mehraj, Hansa, Bhadon, Rasa, Jaga, all whose issue bore the name of Janj;[7.1.41] and in like manner did the other sons become the patriarchs of tribes.
=Bhatti.=—“Bhatti succeeded his father Baland. He conquered fourteen princes, and added [227] their fortunes to his own. Among his effects he reckoned twenty-four thousand mules[7.1.42] laden with treasure, sixty thousand horse, and innumerable foot. As soon as he mounted the _gaddi_, he assembled all his forces at Lahore preparatory to the _tika-daur_[7.1.43] destined against Birbhan Baghel, lord of Kanakpur. Birbhan fell in the battle which ensued, at the head of forty thousand men.
“Bhatti had two sons, Mangal Rao and Masur Rao. With Bhatti, the patronymic was changed, and the tribe thenceforth was distinguished by his name.
=Mangal.=—“Mangal Rao succeeded, but his fortune was not equal to that of his fathers. Dhundi, king of Ghazni, with a mighty force, invaded Lahore;[7.1.44] nor did Mangal Rao oppose him, but with his eldest son fled into the wilds on the banks of the river. The foe then invested Salbahanpur, where resided the family of the Raja; but Masur Rao escaped and fled to the Lakhi Jungle.[7.1.45] There being only a cultivating peasantry in this tract, he overcame them, and became master of the country. Masur Rao had two sons, Abhai Rao and Saran Rao. The elder, Abhai Rao, brought the whole Lakhi Jungle under his control, and his issue, which multiplied, became famous as the Aboharia Bhattis.[7.1.46] Saran quarrelled with and separated from his brother, and his issue descended to the rank of cultivators, and are well known as the Saran Jats.[7.1.47]
“Mangal Rao, the son of Bhatti, and who abandoned his kingdom, had six sons: Majam Rao, Kalarsi, Mulraj, Sheoraj, Phul, Kewala.
“When Mangal Rao fled from the king, his children were secreted in the houses of his subjects. A Bhumia named Satidas, of the tribe of Tak,[7.1.48] whose ancestors had been reduced from power and wealth by the ancestors of the Bhatti prince, determined to avenge himself, and informed the king that some of the children were concealed in [228] the house of a banker (_sahukar_). The king sent the Tak with a party of troops, and surrounded the house of Sridhar, who was carried before the king, who swore he would put all his family to death if he did not produce the young princes of Salbahana. The alarmed banker protested he had no children of the Raja’s, for that the infants who enjoyed his protection were the offspring of a Bhumia, who had fled, on the invasion, deeply in his debt. But the king ordered him to produce them; he demanded the name of the village, sent for the Bhumias belonging to it, and not only made the royal infants of Salbahana eat with them, but marry their daughters. The banker had no alternative to save their lives but to consent: they were brought forth in the peasant’s garb, ate with the husbandmen (Jats), and were married to their daughters. Thus the offspring of Kalarrae became the Kalhora Jats; those of Mundraj and Sheoraj, the Mudna and Seora Jats; while the younger boys, Phul and Kewala, who were passed off as a barber (Nai) and a potter (Kumhar), fell into that class.[7.1.49]
“Mangal Rao, who found shelter in the wilds of the Gara, crossed that stream and subjugated a new territory. At this period, the tribe of Baraha[7.1.50] inhabited the banks of the river; beyond them were the Buta Rajputs of Butaban.[7.1.51] In Pugal dwelt the Pramara;[7.1.52] in Dhat the Sodha[7.1.53] race; and the Lodra[7.1.54] Rajputs in Lodorva. Here Mangal Rao found security, and with the sanction of the Sodha prince, he fixed his future abode in the centre of the lands of the Lodras, the Barahas, and the Sodhas.[7.1.55] On the death of Mangal Rao, he was succeeded by
“Majam Rao, who escaped from Salbahanpur with his father. He was recognized by all the neighbouring princes, who sent the usual presents on his accession, and the [229] Sodha prince of Umarkot made an offer of his daughter in marriage, which was accepted, and the nuptials were solemnized at Umarkot. He had three sons, Kehar, Mulraj,[7.1.56] and Gogli.
=Kehar Rāo.=—“Kehar became renowned for his exploits. Hearing of a caravan (kafila) of five hundred horses going from Aror[7.1.57] to Multan, he pursued them with a chosen band disguised as camel merchants, and came up with his prey across the Panjnad,[7.1.58] where he attacked and captured it, and returned to his abode. By such exploits he became known, and the coco-nut (_nariyal_) was sent to Majam Rao, and his two elder sons, by Alansi Deora, of Jalor.[7.1.59] The nuptials were celebrated with great splendour, and on their return Kehar laid the foundation of a castle, which he named Tanot in honour of Tana [or Tanuja] Devi. Ere it was completed, Rao Majam died.
=Kehar Rāo.=—“Kehar succeeded. On his accession, Tanot was attacked by Jasrath, chief of the Barahas,[7.1.60] because it was erected on the bounds of his tribe; but Mulraj defended it, and the Barahas were compelled to retire.
“On Mangalwar (Tuesday), the full-moon of Magh, S. 787[7.1.61] (A.D. 731), the fortress of Tanot was completed, and a temple erected to Tana-Mata. Shortly after a treaty of peace was formed with the Barahas, which was concluded by the nuptials of their chief with the daughter of Mulraj [230].”
Having thus fairly fixed the Yadu Bhatti chieftain in the land of Maru, it seems a proper point at which to close this initiatory chapter with some observations on the diversified history of this tribe, crowded into so small a compass; though the notes of explanation, subjoined as we proceeded, will render fewer remarks requisite, since with their help the reader may draw his own conclusions as to the value of this portion of the Bhatti annals, which may be divided into four distinct epochs:
=Recapitulation of Bhatti History.=—1. That of Hari, the ancestor of the Yadu race.
2. Their expulsion, or the voluntary abandonment of India by his children, with their relations of the Harikula and Pandu races, for the countries west of the Indus; their settlements in Marusthali; the founding of Gajni, and combats with the kings of Rum and Khorasan.
3. Their expulsion from Zabulistan, colonization of the Panjab, and creation of the new capital of Salbahanpur.
4. Their expulsion from the Panjab, and settlement in Mer, the rocky oasis of Maru, to the erection of Tanot.
It is the more unnecessary to enter into greater details on these outlines of the early Yadu history, since the subject has been in part treated elsewhere.[7.1.62] A multiplicity of scattered facts and geographical distinctions fully warrants our assent to the general truth of these records, which prove that the Yadu race had dominion in central Asia, and were again, as Islamism advanced, repelled upon India. The obscure legend of their encounters with the allied Syrian and Bactrian kings would have seemed altogether illusory, did not evidence exist that Antiochus the Great was slain in these very regions by an Indo-Scythian prince, called by the Greek writers Sophagasenas: a name in all probability compounded from Subahu and his grandson Gaj (who might have used the common affix of _sena_), the Yadu princes of Gajni, who are both stated to have had conflicts with the Bactrian (Khorasan) kings.
Sistan (the region of cold, _siya_)[7.1.63] and both sides of the valley were occupied in the earliest periods by another branch of the Yadus; for the Sind-Samma dynasty was descended from Samba (which like Yadu became a patronymic)—of which the Greeks made Sambos—and one of whose descendants opposed Alexander in his progress down the Indus. The capital of this dynasty was Samma-ka-kot, or Samanagari, yet existing on the lower Indus, and which was corrupted into Minnagara by the Greeks [231].[7.1.64]
=Ancient Sites in Jaisalmer.=—It is an interesting hypothesis, that would make the Chagatais descendants of the Yadus.[7.1.65] In like manner, Bappa, the ancestor of the Ranas of Mewar, abandoned Central India after establishing his line in Chitor, and retired to Khorasan. All this proves that Hinduism prevailed in these distant regions, and that the intercourse was unrestricted between Central Asia and India. We have undiscovered fields of inquiry in Transoxiana, and in the still more accessible region of the Panjab, where much exists to reward the archaeologist; Salbahanpur, Kampilanagari, Bahra, the hill of Jud, perhaps Bucephalia,[7.1.66] the seven towns of Uchh, but, above all, the capital of Taxiles. Let us hope that, in this age of enterprise, these suggestions may be followed up; we can promise the adventurer a very different result from that which tempts the explorer of barbarous Africa, for here he would penetrate into the first haunts of civilization, and might solve one of the great problems which still distract mankind [232].
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Footnote 7.1.1:
Jagat Khunt, the point of land beyond Dwarka, the last stronghold of the Yadus when their power was extinguished.
Footnote 7.1.2:
Manu says: “But in consequence of the omission of the sacred rites, and of their not consulting Brāhmanas, the following tribes of Kshatriyas have gradually sunk in the world to the condition of Sūdras: viz. the Paundrakas, the Kodas, the Dravidas, the Kāmbogas, the Yavanas, the Sākas, the Pāradas, the Pahlavas, the Kīnas, the Kirātas, and the Daradas” (_Laws_, x. 43-44, trans. G. Bühler, _Sacred Books of the East_, xxv. 412).
It is a great mistake to suppose the Bactrian Greeks are these Yavanas, who are descended from Yavan, fifth son of Yayati, third son of the patriarchal Nahustha, though the Ionians may be of this race. The Sakas are the Sakae, the races of Central Asia (the Sakha Rajput); the Pahlavas, the ancient Persians, or Guebres; the Chinas, the inhabitants of China; and the Chasas, inhabitants of the great snowy mountains (_koh_), whence Kohchasa (the Casia montes of Ptolemy), corrupted to Caucasus [?].
Footnote 7.1.3:
The illustrious Cuvier questions the existence of an ancient central kingdom, because “ni Moïse, ni Homère, ne nous parlait d’un grand empire dans la Haute-Asie” (_Discours sur les révolutions de la surface du globe_, p. 206). Who, then, were “the sons of Togarmah” (mentioned by Ezekiel [xxvii. 14]) who conquered and long held Egypt? [Togarmah was N. Assyria (Hastings, _Dict. Bible_, iv. 789 f.).]
Footnote 7.1.4:
[Bharata, from whom the Kauravas and Pāndavas, more especially the latter, were called Bhāratas, was a prince of the Puru branch of the Lunar race, son of Dushyanta and Sakuntala.]
Footnote 7.1.5:
The Kaba race is almost extinct; it was famed, even in the days of Krishna, as the savage inhabitants of Saurashtra. When the forester Bhil, who mortally wounded Krishna, was expressing his contrition for the unintentional act, he was forgiven, with the remark that it was only retributive justice, as “in a former birth,” as the godlike Rama, Krishna had slain him. Thus Rama appears as the subjugator and civilizer of these indigenous tribes, of whom the Kabas are described as plundering Krishna’s family after his decease. [The Kābas, now extinct, were regarded as savage inhabitants of Saurāshtra in the Krishna tradition, and are said to be the ancestors of the modern Vāghers (_BG_, viii. 271, 587).]
Footnote 7.1.6:
Whence the Hindu names of towns at the estuaries of the Gambia and Senegal Rivers, the Tambaconda and other _kondas_, already mentioned?
Footnote 7.1.7:
Mr. Marsden, at an early period of his researches into Hindu literature, shares the merit of discovering with Sir W. Jones that the Malayan language, disseminated throughout the Archipelago, and extending from Madagascar to Easter Island, a space of 200 degs. of longitude, is indebted to the Sanskrit for a considerable number of its terms, and that the intercourse which effected this was many centuries previous to their conversion to the Muhammadan religion. He is inclined to think that the point of communication was from Gujarat. The legends of these islanders also abound with allusions to the Mahabharata and Ramayana. (See _Asiatic Researches_, vol. iv. p. 226, second edition.) [_EB_, xvii. 475 ff.
Footnote 7.1.8:
The cosmography of the Agni Purana divides the world then known to the Hindus into seven _dwipas_, or continents: one of these is “Sakadvipa, whose inhabitants, descended from Bhavya, are termed Sakeswara (_i.e._ Sakae-lords).” His (Bhavya’s) offspring or descendants were Jalad, Sukamara, Manivaka, Kusumada, Mandaki, Mahadruma, each of whom gave his name to a _khand_, or division (_qu._ Sukmarkhand?). The chief ranges of mountains were Jaldas, Raivat, Syama, Indak, Amki, Rim, and Kesari. “There were seven grand rivers, namely, Mag, Magad, Arvarna, etc. The inhabitants worship the sun.”
Slight as this information is, we must believe that this Sakadvipa or Sakatai is the Scythia of the Ancients; and the Sakeswara (the Sakas of Manu), the Sakae so well known to western history, the progenitors of the Parthians, whose first (_adi_) king was Arsaka. The sun-worship indicates the adorer of Mithras, the Mitra or Surya of the Hindu; the Arvarna recalls the Araxes applied to the Jaxartes; while Jalad, the proper name of the son of the first king of Sakadvipa, appears to be the Yulduz of the Tatar historian Abulghazi, who uses the same term as does the Hindu, to designate a range of mountains. Whence this identity between Puranic and Tatar cosmography? [These speculations possess no value.]
“A chief of the twice-born tribe (_i.e._ Brahmans) was brought by Vishnu’s eagle from Sakadvipa, and thus have Sakadvipa Brahmans become known in Jambudwipa” (India). Mr. Colebrooke on Indian Classes, _Asiatic Researches_, vol. v. p. 53. And Manu says that it was only on their ceasing to sanction Brahmans residing amongst them, that the inhabitants of these remote western regions became ‘Mlechchha,’ or barbarians: testimonies which must be held conclusive of perfect intercourse and reciprocity of sentiment between the nations of Central Asia and India at periods the most remote.
Footnote 7.1.9:
_Vide_ “Essay on the Hindu and Theban Hercules,” _Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. iii.
Footnote 7.1.10:
The Bhagavat says: “Budha (a wise man—a patriarch) came to Bharatkhand to perform penitential rites, and espoused Ila, by whom he had Pururavas (founder of Mathura), who had six sons, namely, Ayu, etc., who carried on the lunar (Indu) races in India.” Now this Ayu is likewise the patriarch of the Tatars, and in that language signifies the moon, a male divinity both with Tatars and Rajputs. Throughout there are traces of an original identity, which justifies the application of the term Indo-Scythic to the Yadu race.—_Vide_ Genealogical table, Vol. I.
Footnote 7.1.11:
Prayaga is the modern Allahabad, at the confluence of the Jumna and Ganges, the capital of the Prasioi of Megasthenes. [Their capital was Pātaliputra, Patna.]
Footnote 7.1.12:
This is alternately called Chhappan Kula and Chhappan Kror, “fifty-six tribes,” and “fifty-six millions,” of Yadus. As they were long supreme over India, this number is not inadmissible.
Footnote 7.1.13:
_Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. iii. _Vide_ paper entitled “Comparison of the Hindu and Theban Hercules.”
Footnote 7.1.14:
Jambuvati was the name of the seventh wife, whose eldest son was called Samba; he obtained possession of the tracts on both sides the Indus, and founded the Sind-Samma dynasty, from which the Jarejas are descended. There is every probability that Sambus, of Sambanagari (Minnagara), the opponent of Alexander, was a descendant of Samba, son of Krishna [?]. The Jareja chronicles, in ignorance of the origin of this titular appellation, say that their “ancestors came from Sham, or Syria.” [These speculations possess no value.]
Footnote 7.1.15:
[This name does not appear in the Vishnu Purāna list.]
Footnote 7.1.16:
Jad, Jud, Jadon, are the various modes of pronouncing Yadu in the Bhakha, or spoken dialects of the west. Judh-bhan, ‘the rocket of the Yadus,’ would imply the knowledge of gunpowder at a very remote period [?].
Footnote 7.1.17:
The precise knowledge of the topography of these regions, displayed in the Bhatti annals, is the most satisfactory proof of their authenticity. In the present day, it would be in vain to ask any native of Jaisalmer the position of the “hill of Jud,” or the site of Bahra; and but for the valuable translation of Babur’s _Memoirs_, by Mr. Erskine, we should have been unable to adduce the following testimony. Babur crossed the Indus the 17th February 1519, and on the 19th, between that river and one of its great towns, the Behat, he reached the very tract where the descendant of Krishna established himself twenty-five centuries before. Babur says, “Seven kos from Behreh to the north there is a hill. This hill in the Zefer Nameh (History of Timoor), and other books, is called the Hill of Jud. At first I was ignorant of the origin of its name, but afterwards discovered that in this hill there were two races of men descended of the same father. One tribe is called Jud, the other Jenjuheh. From old times they have been the rulers and lords of the inhabitants of this hill, and of the Ils and Uluses (political divisions) between Nilab and Behreh. Their power is exerted in a friendly and brotherly way. They cannot take from them whatever they please. They take as their share a portion that has been fixed from very remote times. The Jud is divided into various branches or families, as well as the Jenjuheh. The chief man amongst them gets the name of Rae.”—Erskine’s _Baber_, p. 254.
Here is a decided confirmation that this Hindu colony preserved all their original manners and customs even to Babur’s day. The tribe of Janjuhahs, beyond a doubt, is the tribe of Johya, so celebrated in the region skirting the Sutlej, and which will be noticed hereafter. I presented a small work entirely relating to their history to the Royal Asiatic Society. As Babur says they are of the same family as the Juds, they are probably the descendants of Janj, the brother of Bhatti, who changed the family patronymic from Jadu or Judu to Bhatti; and thus it appears that when the elder branch was driven from Gajni, they retreated amongst their relations of the hills of Jud. Babur was quite enamoured with the beauty of the hill of Jud, which, with its lake and valleys, he describes as a miniature Kashmir.—P. 255.
Footnote 7.1.18:
The Pramars were formerly the most powerful potentates of Central India. Handmaids, and bedsteads of gold, were always a part of the _daeja_ or dower of Hindu princesses.
Footnote 7.1.19:
Abulfazl [? Abulghazi] mentions Joga as prince of Gasmien and Kashmir, who was slain by Aghuz Khan, the Patriarch of the Tatar tribes.
Footnote 7.1.20:
In this early portion of the annals there is a singular mixture of historical facts, and it appears that the Yadu scribes confound their connexions with the Syrian and Bactrian Greeks, and with the first Muslim conquerors. Imperfect as is this notice of Subahu, his son Rajh, and grandson Gaj, who were thus assailed by Farid of Khorasan (Bactria), and his auxiliary, the king of Rum (Syria), we have a powerful allusion to Antiochus the Great, who, two hundred and four years before Christ, invaded Bactria and India. Amongst the few facts left of this expedition is his treaty with Sophagasenas, the Indian monarch, in which the Syrian king stipulated for a tribute in elephants. There are, even in this medley of incidents, grounds for imagining that Sophagasenas is the Yadu prince of Gajni. Whether, out of Subahu and Gaj, the Greeks manufactured their Sophagasenas, or whether prince Gaj could have been entitled Subhagsen, in compliment to his mother, Subhag-Sundari, of Malwa, must be left for the speculative to decide. It is not unlikely that the nature of the tribute, said to have been elephants, which the Indian agreed to furnish to the Greek prince, may have originated with the name of _Gaj_, which means ‘elephant.’ [Sophagasenas, mentioned by Polybius (xi. 34) was probably an Indian king, Subhāgasena, who ruled in the Kābul valley.]
There is at the same time much that refers to the early progress of Islam in these regions of Central Asia. Price, in his excellent history, extracting from the Khulasatu-l-Akhbar, says, “Hejauge was entrusted with the government of Khorasan, and Obaidoolah with Seistan, who had orders from Hejauge, his superior, to invade Caubul, whose prince was Reteil or Retpeil, whom the Author supposes either a Tatar or Hindoo prince. Artfully retiring, he drew the Mohamedan army into the defiles, and blocking up the rear, cut off their retreat, and Obaidoolah was compelled to purchase his liberation by the payment of seven hundred thousand dirhems.” [See Elliot-Dowson ii. 417; “Retpeil” is possibly Ratnapāla.]
This was the seventy-eighth year of the Hegira, or A.D. 697. Conjoined to what follows, it appears to have reference to Rajh, father of Gaj. Again,
“Obaidoolah and Abdoorehman invaded Seistan with forty thousand men. The prince of Caubul tried the same manœuvre, but was outwitted by the Mohamedan, who conquered a great part of Caubul and acquired great booty, with which he returned to Seistan, to the great displeasure of Hejauge; and Abdoorehman entered into a confederacy with Retpeil to attack Hejauge, and absolve Caubul from tribute. Moghairah was the successor of Abdoorehman in Khorasan, while his father, Mohilel, was employed beyond the Jehoon, but died at Meru of a burning diarrhoea, bequeathing his government to Yezzid.”
This account of Mughaira’s (the governor of Khorasan) death, while carrying on war against the Hindu “Retpeil” of Kabul, has much analogy to the sudden death of Mamrez, the foe of Rajh of Zabulistan. One thing is now proved, that princes of the Hindu faith ruled over all these regions in the first ages of Islamism, and made frequent attempts, for centuries after, to reconquer them. Of this fact, Babur gives us a most striking instance in his description of Gajni, or, as he writes, Ghazni. He says, “I have seen, in another history, that when the Rai of Hind besieged Subaktegin in Ghazni, Subaktegin ordered dead flesh and other impurities to be thrown into the fountain, when there instantly arose a tempest and hurricane, with rain and snow, and by this device he drove away the enemy.” Babur adds, “I made then inquiry in Ghazni for this well, but nobody could give me the slightest information regarding it” (p. 150). Doubtless, when Babur conquered India, and became better acquainted with the Hindu warriors, he would have got to the bottom of this anecdote, and have seen that the success of the ruse of Sabuktegin arose out of the religion of his foes, who could not use water thus contaminated by the flesh of the sacred kine. The celebrated Valabhi was reduced by the same stratagem.
Footnote 7.1.21:
Neither of these towns appears in any map. “There is a Koonj Reshak in Khorasan, and a Penjher in Balk.” Sir W. Ouseley’s _Ebn Haukal_, pp. 213-223.
Footnote 7.1.22:
“The king of Rum and the king of Khorasan, with horse (_haya_), elephants (_gaya_ or _gaj_), caparisons (_pākhar_), and foot-soldiers (_pāē_ or _pāyik_) [are at hand]. Beware, let it enter your mind, O Rāē, Lord of the Jadus!“
Footnote 7.1.23:
[A _ghari_ = 24 minutes.]
Footnote 7.1.24:
The unclean spirits of Rajput martial mythology, who feed on the slain.
Footnote 7.1.25:
This date is circumstantial, and might be fixed or disproved by calculation; if the heterogeneous mixture of such widely separated incidents as those in Syro-Macedonian and Muhammadan history did not deter us from the attempt.
Footnote 7.1.26:
No such name appears in Wilson’s _Raj Taringini_. [Nor in Stein’s Index.]
Footnote 7.1.27:
Tutelary goddess, or “of the race (_kula_).”
Footnote 7.1.28:
This volcano [or rather jets of combustible gas] is a well-known place of pilgrimage in the Siwalik mountains [in the Kāngra District, Panjāb].
Footnote 7.1.29:
A pahar is one-fourth of the day.
Footnote 7.1.30:
For a description of this rite see Vol. I. pp. 85, 309.
Footnote 7.1.31:
In conformity with the Hindu ordinances of _matam_, or mourning.
Footnote 7.1.32:
Here is another circumstantial date, S. 72, or A.D. 16, for the foundation of Salbahana in the Panjab, by the fugitive Yadu prince from Gajni. Of its exact position we have no means of judging, but it could not have been remote from Lahore. It may be deemed a fortunate coincidence that I should discover that ancient inscription (p. 914) of this capital, styled Salpur, governed by a Gete or Jat in the fourth century; which suggested the idea (which many facts tend to prove), whether these Yadus (whose illegitimate issue, as will appear in the sequel, are called Jats) may not be the Yuti or Getes from Central Asia. The coincidence of the date of Salbahan-Yadu with that of the Saka Salivahan, the Tak, will not fail to strike the inquirer into Hindu antiquities: and it is not the least curious circumstance, that these Yadus, or Yuti, displaced the Takshak, or Tak, from this region, as will appear immediately. In further corroboration, see notes 2 and 4, p. 916 f., and Inscriptions II. p. 917 and VI. p. 925.]
Footnote 7.1.33:
At every page of these annals, it is evident that they have been transcribed by some ignoramus, who has jumbled together events of ancient and modern date. The prince of Delhi might have been Jaipal, but if we are to place any faith in the chronology of the Tuar race, no prince of this family could be synchronous with the Yadu Salbahan. I am inclined to think that the emigration of Salbahan’s ancestors from Gajni was at a much later period than S. 72, as I shall note as we proceed. [As will be seen later on, the whole story swarms with anachronisms.]
Footnote 7.1.34:
Turk is the term in the dialects which the Hindus apply to the races from central Asia, the Turushka of the Puranas.
Footnote 7.1.35:
Doubtless the ancestor of the Johya race, termed the Janjuha by Babur, and who dwelt with the Juds in the hills of Jud, the Jadu-ka-dang of the Bhatti MSS.
Footnote 7.1.36:
However curious this assertion, of the Chagatais being descended from the Yadus, it ought not to surprise us: I repeat, that all these tribes, whether termed Indo-Scythic or Tatar, prior to Islamism professed a faith which may be termed Hinduism.
Footnote 7.1.37:
As it is evident the period has reference to the very first years of Islamism, and it is stated that the sons of Gaj were to be proselytes, it is by no means improbable that this is Jaipal, the infidel prince of Khwarizm.—See Price’s _Mahomedan History_.
Footnote 7.1.38:
This is a most important admission of the proselytism of the ancient Indo-Scythic Yadu princes to the faith of Islam, though there can be no reasonable doubt of it. Temugin, better known by his _nomme de guerre_, Jangiz, the father of Chagatai, according to the Muhammadan historians, is termed an infidel, and so was Takash, the father of Muhammad of Khwarizm: the one was of the Getic or Yuti race; the other, as his name discloses, of the Tak or Takshak, the two grand races of Central Asia. The insertion of this pedigree in this place completely vitiates chronology; yet for what purpose it could have been interpolated, if not founded on some fact, we cannot surmise.
Footnote 7.1.39:
We can, by means of the valuable translation of the Commentaries of Babur, trace many of these tribes.
Footnote 7.1.40:
It has already been stated that the fifteen brothers of Baland established themselves in the mountainous parts of the Panjab, and that his sons inherited those west of the Indus, or Daman. The Afghan tribes, whose supposed genealogy from the Jews has excited so much curiosity, and who now inhabit the regions conquered by the sons of Salbahan, are possibly Yadus, who, on conversion, to give more éclat to their antiquity, converted Yadu into Yahudi or Jew, and added the rest of the story from the Koran. That grand division of Afghans called the Yusufzai, or ‘Sons of Joseph,’ whose original country was Kabul and Ghazni, yet retain the name of Jadon (vulgar of Yadu) as one of their principal subdivisions; and they still occupy a position in the hilly region east of the Indus, conquered by the sons of Baland. It would be a curious fact could we prove the Afghans not Yahudis but Yadus [?].
Footnote 7.1.41:
Doubtless the junction of Janj with that of Johya, another numerous tribe, formed the Janjuha of Babur; the Johyas of the Bhatti annals, now known only by name, but whose history forms a volume. The sons of Janj have left numerous traces—Janjian on the Gara; Jinjiniali in the desert, etc.
Footnote 7.1.42:
Even the mention of an animal unknown in the desert of India evinces the ancient source whence these annals are compiled. Had the Yadu colony at this period obtained a footing in the desert, south of the Sutlej, the computation would have been by camel-loads, not by mules.
Footnote 7.1.43:
See Vol. I. p. 315, for an account of this military foray.
Footnote 7.1.44:
This would almost imply that Lahore and Salbahana were one and the same place, but from what follows, the intervening distance could not have been great between the two cities. There is a Sangala, south of Lahore, near the altars of Alexander, and a Sialkot in our modern maps. Salbahana, Salbahanpur, or simply Salpura, may have been erected on the ruins of Kampilanagari. We may hope that researches in that yet untouched region, the Panjab, will afford much to the elucidation of ancient history. [Sālbahanpur is usually identified with Siālkot (Cunningham, _ASR_, ii. 21).]
Footnote 7.1.45:
The Lakhi Jungle is well known in India for its once celebrated breed of horses, extinct within the last twenty years.
Footnote 7.1.46:
[They take their name from the old town of Abohar in the Firozpur District, Panjāb (_IGI_, v. 2). Compare the local legend with that from Hissār (Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 103 f.).]
Footnote 7.1.47:
Thus it is that the most extensive agricultural races spread all over India, called Jāts or Jats, have a tradition that they are descended from the Yadu race (_qu._ Yuti?), and that their original country is Kandahar. Such was stated to me as the origin of the Jats of Bayana and Bharatpur. Why the descendants of Saran assumed the name of Jats is not stated.
Footnote 7.1.48:
This incidental mention of the race of Tak, and of its being in great consideration on the settlement of the Yadus in the Panjab, is very important. I have given a sketch of this tribe (Vol. I. p. 123), but since I wrote it I have discovered the capital of the Tak, and on the very spot where I should have expected the site of Taxila, the capital of Taxiles, the friend of Alexander. In that sketch I hesitated not to say that the name was not personal, but arose from his being the head of the Takshak or Naga tribe, which is confirmed. It is to Babur, or rather to his translator, that I am indebted for this discovery. In describing the limits of Banu, Babur thus mentions it: “And on the west is Dasht, which is also called Bazar and Tak”; to which the erudite translator adds, “Tak is said long to have been the capital of Daman.” In Mr. Elphinstone’s map, Bazar, which Babur makes identical with Tak, is a few miles north of the city of Attok. There is no question that both the river and city were named after the race of Tak or Takshak, the Nagas, Nagvansi, or snake race, who spread over India. Indeed, I would assume that the name of Omphis, which young Taxiles had on his father’s death, is Ophis, the Greek version of Tak, the ‘serpent.’ The Taks appear to have been established in the same regions at the earliest period. The Mahabharata describes the wars between Janamejaya and the Takshaks, to revenge on their king the death of his father Parikshit, emperor of Indraprastha, or Delhi. [These theories have no foundation. Omphis is the Greek form of Skt. Āmbhi, and has no connexion with a snake cult (Smith, _EHI_, 60).]
Footnote 7.1.49:
[This is a series of folk etymologies intended to explain the intermixture of these tribes. For the Kalhora tribe see Rose, _Glossary_, ii. 440 ff.]
Footnote 7.1.50:
The names of these Rajput races, several of which are now blotted from the page of existence, prove the fidelity of the original manuscript. The Barahas are now Muhammadans.
Footnote 7.1.51:
The Buta is amongst the extinct tribes.
Footnote 7.1.52:
Pugal from the most remote times has been inhabited by the Pramar race. It is one of the Nau-koti Maru-ki, the nine castles of the desert.
Footnote 7.1.53:
The Sodhas of Umarkot have inhabited the desert from time immemorial, and are in all probability the Sogdoi of Alexander. See Vol. I. p. 111.
Footnote 7.1.54:
Lodorva will be described hereafter.
Footnote 7.1.55:
[The above series of legends of the Bhatti settlement in the desert is a mass of fiction. “We are told that Sālivāhan founded the city of Sālbāhanpur in Vikrama Sambat 72, or about A.D. 16; that the third in succession to him, Mangal Rāo, was driven southward into the desert, and that Mangal Rāo’s grandson, Kehar, laid the foundations of a castle called Tanot (still in Jaisalmer territory), which was completed in A.D. 731; or, in other words, that Sālivāhan and his five immediate successors reigned for more than seven hundred years. Again, it is said that in Sālivāhan’s time the coconut, an offer of marriage, came from Rāja Jaipāl Tonwar of Delhi, whereas the Tonwar dynasty ruled at Delhi for just a century from about A.D. 1050.” This Sālivāhana cannot be the hero who is said to have conquered the Indo-Scythians, but some of the many legends connected with him may have suggested the fictions of the Bhatti bards (Erskine iii. A. 96).]
Footnote 7.1.56:
Mulraj had three sons, Rajpal, Lohwa, and Chubar. The elder son had two sons, Rana and Giga; the first of whom had five sons, Dhukur, Pohor, Budh, Kulru, Jaipal, all of whom had issue, and became heads of clans. The descendants of Giga bore the name of Khengar (_qu._ chiefs of Girnar?). The annals of all these States abound with similar minute genealogical details, which to the Rajputs are of the highest importance in enabling them to trace the affinities of families, but which it is imperative to omit, as they possess no interest for the European reader. I have extracted the names of the issue of Mulraj to show this. The Khengars were famed in the peninsula of Surashtra—nine of them ruled in Junagarh Girnar; and but for this incidental relation, their origin must have ever remained concealed from the archaeologist, as the race has long been extinct. On some future day I hope to present a sketch of Khengar’s palace, on the sacred mount Girnar, to the public. [The famous well, at least, is attributed to Rāo Khengār II. (A.D. 1098-1125) (_BG_, viii. 444).]
Footnote 7.1.57:
The remains of this once famous town, the ancient capital of the upper valley of the Indus, I had the happiness to discover by means of one of my parties, in 1811. It is the Alor of Abu-l-fazl, the capital of Raja Siharas, whose kingdom extended north to Kashmir, and south to the ocean; and the Azour of D’Anville, who, on the authority of Ebn Haukal, says, “Azour est presque comparable à Multan pour la grandeur.” He adds, that Azizi places it “trente parasanges de Mansora.” If Mansura is the ancient Bakhar (capital of the Sogdoi), we should read three instead of thirty. See Map, Vol. I.[Mansūra was near Bāhmanābād.]
Footnote 7.1.58:
Panjnad is the name which the Indus bears immediately below the point of confluence of the five streams (panj-nadi). The mere mention of such terms as the Panjnad, and the ancient Aror, stamps these annals with authenticity, however they may be deformed by the interpolations and anachronisms of ignorant copyists. Of Aror, or the Panjnad, excepting the regular kasids, or messengers, perhaps not an individual living in Jaisalmer could not speak.
Footnote 7.1.59:
[This is another anachronism. The Deora sept of the Chauhāns, of which the Rāja of Sirohi is head, did not come into existence until the thirteenth century, and Jālor was then held by the Paramāras, who kept possession till they were ousted by the Chauhāns at the end of the twelfth century (Erskine iii. A. 10).]
Footnote 7.1.60:
This shows that the Baraha tribe was of the same faith with the Yadu Bhatti; in fact ‘the star of Islam’ did not shine in these regions for some time after, although Umar, in the first century, had established a colony of the faithful at Bakhar, afterwards Mansura. The Barahas are mentioned by Pottinger in his travels in Balochistan.
Footnote 7.1.61:
There are but six descents given from Salbahan, the leader of the Yadu colony from Zabulistan into the Panjab, and Kehar, the founder of their first settlement in the desert of India. The period of the first is S. 72, of the other S. 787. Either names are wanting, or the period of Salbahan is erroneous. Kehar’s period, namely, S. 787, appears a landmark, and is borne out by numerous subsequent most valuable synchronisms. Were we to admit one hundred years to have elapsed between Salbahan and Kehar, it would make the period of expulsion from Zabulistan about S. 687, which is just about the era of Muhammad.
Footnote 7.1.62:
See “Essay on the Hindu and Theban Hercules,” _Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society_, vol. iii.
Footnote 7.1.63:
[Sīstān is Sakastēnē, “The Saka country”.]
Footnote 7.1.64:
[The capital of Sambos was Sindimana, probably Sihwān (Smith, _EHI_, 101).]
Footnote 7.1.65:
Mr. Wilson discovered the name of Pandu in Ptolemy’s _Geography of Sogdiana_; and according to Ebn Haukal, the city of Herat is also called Hari. This adjoins Maru, or Merv, and to Marusthali the Pandu and Harikula races retired on their exile from India. If ever these remote regions are searched for ancient inscriptions, we may yet ascend the ladder of Time. What was that Hamiri language, inscribed on the gate of Samarkand? (Ouseley, _Ebn Haukal_, p. 254). The lamented death of that enterprising traveller, Mr. Brown, when he was about visiting Transoxiana, leaves a fine field to the adventurous. The Buddhist colossal sculptures and caves at Bamian, with such inscriptions as they may contain, are of the highest importance; and I have little doubt, will be found of the same character as those discovered in the cave temples of India, attributed to the Pandus. [The author depended on Wilford (_Asiatic Researches_, vi. 462 ff.). For Bamiān see _EB_, 11th ed. iii. 304 f.]
Footnote 7.1.66:
In a portion of the essay “On the Theban and Hindu Hercules,” which I suppressed as better suited to an intended dissertation “On the Sepulchral Monuments of the Rajpoots,” where I trace a close analogy between their customs and those of the Scythic and Scandinavian Warriors, my particular attention was drawn to that singular monument discovered by Elphinstone, called the “Tope Manikiala.” I had before (_Trans. R.A.S._ vol. i. p. 330) conjectured it to be one of the many mausoleums erected to Menander, but on observing the geography of St. Croix, in his _Examen Critique des Historiens d’Alexandre_, who places the city of Bucephalus on the very spot where the monument found by Mr. E. exists, I gave up Menander for Alexander’s horse, and this, long anterior to its reported excavation by the Chev. Ventura, for whose subsequent observations we impatiently wait. [Mānikiāla, in the Rāwalpindi District; the Stūpa marks the spot where Gautama Buddha offered his body to appease the hunger of seven tiger cubs (_IGI_, xvii. 182 f.). The site of Boukephala is practically identical with the modern Jihlam (Smith, _EHI_, 71).]
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