The annals and antiquities of Rajasthan, : or The central and western Rajpoot states of India / by Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod.

The annals and antiquities of Rajasthan, or The central and western Rajpoot states of India / by Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod.

  • James Tod
Date:
1898-1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The annals and antiquities of Rajasthan, or The central and western Rajpoot states of India / by Lieutenant-Colonel James Tod. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    no despicable materials for the historian, who would, moreover, be assisted by the Synchronisms which are capable of being established with ancient Pagan and later Mahomedan writers. From the earliest period of my official connexion with this in- teresting country, I applied myself to collect and explore its early historical records, with a view of throwing some light upon a people scarcely yet known in Europe, and whose political connexion with England appeared to me to be capable of undergoing a material change, with benefit to both parties. It would be wearisome to the reader to be minutely informed of the process I adopted, to collect the scattered relics of Rajpoot history into the form and substance in which he now sees them, I began with the sacred genealogy from the Puranas; examined the Mahabharaty and the poems of Chund (a complete chronicle of his times) ; the voluminous historical poems of Jessulmeer, Marvar, and Mewar the histories of the Kheetchies, and those of the Hara princes of Kotah and Boondi, &c., by their respective bards. A portion of the materials compiled by Jey Sing of Amber or Jeypur (one of the greatest patrons of science amongst the modern Hindu princes), to illustrate the history of his race, fell into my hands. I have reason to believe that there existed more copious materials, which his profligate descendant, the late prince, in his division of the empire with a prostitute, may have disposed of on the partition of the library of the state, which was the finest collection in Rajasthan. Like some of the renowned princes of Timur’s dynasty, Jey Sing kept a diary, termed Calpadrumay in which' he noted every event; a work written by'such a man and at such an^ interesting juncture, would be a valuable acquisition to history. From the Duttea prince I obtained a transcript of the journal of his an- cestor who served with such eclat amongst the great feudatories of Aurungzebe’s army, and from which Scott made many extracts in his^ history of the Dekhan. For a period of ten years, I was employed, with the aid of a learned Jain, in ransacking every work which could contribute any facts or incidents to the history of the Rajpoots, or diffuse any light upon their manners and character. Extracts and versions of all such passages were made by my Jain assistant into the more familiar dialects (which are formed from the Sanskrit) of these tribes, in whose lan- guage my long residence amongst them enabled me to converse with facility. At much expense, and during many wearisome hours, to Of Marwar, there were the Vijya Vt’las, the Stirya PrakaSy and Kheaty or legends, besides detached fragments of reigns. Of Mewar, there was the Khoman Rassahy a modern work formed from old materials which are lost and commencing with the attack of Cheetore by Mahifc%d, sup- posed to be the son of Kasim of Sinde, in the very earliest age* of Maho- medanism : also the Jugy;ut VilaSy the Raj-Prakas and the Jcya VilaSy all poems composed in the reigns of the princes whose name they , bear, but generally introducing succinctly the early parts of history. Besides these, there were fragments 6f the Jeypur family from their archives ; and the: Man Charita or history of Raja Man.
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