JHR1 JEvSSRAJSINGHJI SEESODIA MLJ^.A.S. GIFT OF HORACE W. CARPENTER THE RAJPUTS: A FIGHTING RACE THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESTIES KING-EMPEROR GEORGE V. AND QUEEN-EMPRESS MARY OF INDIA KHARATA KE SAMRAT SRT PANCHME JARJ AI.4ftF.SH. SARVE BHAUMA KK RAJAHO JKVOH LAKH VARESH. Photographs by IV. &* D, Downey, London, S.W. ITS A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE , RAJPUT. ,RAC^ WARLIKE PAST, ITS EARLY CONNEC^tofe WITH., GREAT BRITAIN, AND ITS GALLANT SERVICES AT THE PRESENT MOMENT AT THE FRONT BY THAKUR SHRI JESSRAJSINGHJI SEESODIA " M.R.A.S. BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS A FOREWORD BY GENERAL SIR O'MOORE CREAGH V.C., G.C.B., G.C.S.I. EX-COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, INDIA LONDON EAST AND WEST, LTD. 3, VICTORIA STREET, S.W. 1915 H.H. RANA SHRI RANJITSINGHJI BAHADUR, OF BARWANI THE RAJA OF BARWANI TO HIS HIGHNESS MAHARANA SHRI RANJITSINGHJI BAHADUR MAHARAJA OF BARWANI AS A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT FOR YOUR HIGHNESS'S MANY ADMIRABLE QUALITIES THIS HUMBLE EFFORT HAS BEEN WITH KIND PERMISSION Dedicates BY YOUR HIGHNESS'S MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT AND CLANSMAN JESSRAJSINGH SEESODIA 440872 FOREWORD THAKUR SHRI JESSRAJ SINGHJI has asked me, as one who has passed most of his life in India, to write a Foreword to this little book to speed it on its way. The object the Thakur Sahib has in writing it is to benefit the fund for the widows and orphans of those Indian soldiers killed in the present war. To this fund he intends to give 50 per cent, of any profits that may accrue from its sale. I have therefore much pleasure in complying with his request. Purchasers of this little book will not only be getting information about a noble Indian people the Rajputs, to the Seesodia clan of which the Thakur Sahib belongs but they will be benefiting those gallant soldiers who are now bravely fighting for the Empire in Europe, Asia and Africa. English people are often reproached with their ignorance of India. There is, however, some excuse for their ignorance in the vastness of the subject. It is quite impossible for any man, be he European or Indian, to understand it completely. No man can know India; the best informed on the subject can but know parts of it. The only way to gain a knowledge of the great dependency is to read such books as this, and to make the acquaintance of one tribe or one part of the vast country called India at a time. The Thakur Sahib in his book introduces the reader vii viii FOREWORD " to the Rajputs: a Fighting Race," to which people he himself belongs. Moreover, he belongs to the Seesodia clan, the noblest of these noble people, the head of which " is His Highness the Maharana of Udaipur, the Sun of the Hindus." He is thus well qualified for the task he has undertaken. I have passed many years of my life among Rajputs; I have lived in close intimacy with their chiefs and nobles, with whom I have spent many happy days hunting and shooting, sports in which they all excel; and I have listened to these stories and folklore, and those of their bards and retainers, told round the camp-fire in the evenings. I have many valued friends of all classes among them. I can thus vouch for the accuracy of the account given of them by the Thakur Sahib. They are, and ever have been, honourable, brave and true. I will say one more word: of the population of India only a certain proportion are warlike. There are many educated Indian gentlemen who do not know English. These two facts are often ignored by those possessing a very superficial knowledge of India, but they are facts to be remembered by those who would understand that country. O'MOORE CREAGH, General. November 29, 1914. PREFACE OUR object in offering this volume to the British public is to stimulate its interest in India and her people, especially in that ruling class of Indian society whose loyal action at the present moment calls for an appreciative understand- ing of its motives. I refer to those princes of warlike race who are rendering such signal service to the British Empire by manfully coming forward to its help in this hour of crisis. An attempt has been made in the following pages to give some idea of that inviolable principle, the corner- stone of the social fabric of Hinduism, which, alive now as ever, underlies the loyalty and patriotism illustrated to-day in a manner unparalleled in history by these hereditary warriors of India. That principle is swami- dharma, a Sanskrit word implying the duties of fidelity and gratitude, which has no exact equivalent in any other language. The German Emperor apparently counted on the dis- loyalty of India at this juncture to abet him in his ambitious projects; his calculations and conclusions have proved IX x PREFACE false, and the direct lie has been given to his expectations by the princes of India who are marching with their armies side by side with those of the Allies against his imperial hosts. The short sketch of the warlike races of the East included in this book will open the eyes of Britain's enemies, and show them and the world at large that they have both the will and the ability to maintain their ancestral traditions. It will be generally and readily appreciated that men recruited from races who have from time immemorial made a profession of war must from a military point of view be superior to troops raised offhand, however excellent their training; and that these races, who have more campaigns and battles to their credit within the last century than any European army the German army lacking conspicuously all recent record of active service must constitute a formidable power when their full fighting strength is brought into the field. While the 70,000 men already at the front can be easily reinforced, and, as the Times of India pointed out, 100,000 men be regularly supplied every month for the next two years, the magnitude of this proffered help counts for less even than the fact that it will be spontaneously forthcoming. India is participating in the present conflict, firstly, in loyal support of the British Empire; secondly, to defend her own country from the chance of ruthless spoliation by THAKUR SHRI JESSRAJSINGHJI SEESODIA THE AUTHOR Photograph by Parker &- Co., High Holbom, London, II'. C. PREFACE xi the Germans. She cannot calmly contemplate an ultimate victory for the German arms which would be followed by wholesale reprisals for her intervention in the war, involving the destruction of her homes and industries and the com- plete paralysis of her national activity. India, after her manifold experiences at the hands of European powers, has certainly no desire to be dominated by Germany, and to see the principles of democracy and all that they imply trodden underfoot by the iron heel of the German uhlan. Last, and not least, of her reasons for willingly taking up arms is to uphold that form of liberal government which Britain has helped to create and develop, and which Germany would certainly destroy. The part that India will play in the present war will be of absorbing interest, and as its part is essentially on the side of justice, honour and dharma, there can be but one issue of the war that is, victory for dharma. JESSRAJSINGH SEESODIA. WESTWOOD HOUSE, 210, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON, W.C. June, 1915. CONTENTS CHAPTER PACE I. THE INDIAN EMPIRE - i II. INDIAN PRINCES IN THE EMPIRE - - - 23 III. WHO THE RAJPUTS ARE - - - 35 IV. RAJPUT BRAVERY - - - - - 42 V. RAJPUT CODE OF HONOUR - - - - 64 VI. RAJPUT OBLIGATIONS TO THE BRITISH RAJ - 68 VII. RAJPUTS AND THE SEPOY MUTINY - 75 VIII. RAJPUTS IN THE HIGHER MILITARY SERVICES - 98 IX. SOME LEADING RAJPUT RULERS - - - 106 X. CONCLUSION - - 155 GLOSSARY ------- 162 xm LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO FACE PAGE THEIR IMPERIAL MAJESTIES - Frontispiece H.H. MAHARANA SHRI RANJITSINGHJI BAHADUR, MAHARAJA OF BARWANI - ..... ij THE AUTHOR --..-.. v " " MAP, INDIA IN THE MAHABHARATA PERIOD - - - 2 - RAJPUT STATES 4 INDIA UNDER HER OWN RULERS .... 8 H.H. THE MAHARAJA OF JODHPUR - - . - 14 " RANJI," THE MAHARAJA OF JAMNAGAR - - - 16 H.H. THE THAKUR SAHIB OF LIMBDI - - - - 18 H.H. THE MAHARAJA OF INDORE - - - -22 BHOSLA GHAT, BENARES: RAJPUT ARCHITECTURE 24 RAJPUT PALATIAL ARCHITECTURE - - - - 26 H.H. THE LATE MAHARAJA OF JODHPUR - - 28 H.H. THE - - MAHARAJA OF BARODA - - 30 H.H. THE RAJ RANA OF DHRANGDHRA - - - -32 SIVA .... 34 VlSHVARMITRA - - . AND M^NAKA 38 TlLOTAMA ---.....40 A PALACE - - . - RAJPUT 42 MIRA BAI'S - - TEMPLE AT CHITORGARH - - 46 A - - - RAJPUT LADY WORSHIPPING - - 50 JAI STHAMBHA - - . -52 LAKSHMI - - - . , -56 RANA PRATAP SINHJI - . -58 RAJA MAN SINGH - - - . , -60 A RAJPUT FORTIFICATION - - - - . - 62 A - - - . RAJPUT RAULA . - 64 - HAWA MAHAL - . * 66 xv xvi ILLUSTRATIONS TO FACE PACK THE LATE RAJA OF BHINGA - - - - 68 JAG MANDIR - ..... 78 GATEWAY AT AMBER (JAIPUR) - 82 MAHARANA SANGRAMSINGH'S CHHATRI - - 86 TRIPOLIA GATEWAY - - - 90 THE LATE SARDAR SINGHJI ON HORSEBACK - - 102 THE CITADEL OF JODHPUR ... 104 H.H. THE MAHARANA OF UDAIPUR - - 106 His LATE MAJESTY THE KING OF NEPAL - - - 108 H.H. THE MAHARAJA OF MYSORE - - - - no H.H. MAHARAJA PRATAPSINGH - - - - 112 H.H. THE MAHARAJA OF KASHMIR - - - - 114 H.H. THE MAHARAJA OF JAIPUR - - - - 116 H.H. THE MAHARAJA OF ALWAR - - - - 118 H.H. THE MAHARAJA OF BIKANIR .... 120 H.H. THE MAHARAVAL OF DUNGARPUR .... 122 H.H. THE MAHARAJA OF KISHANGARH - - - 124 H.H. THE THAKUR SAHIB OF GONDAL - - - - 126 H.H. THE MAHARANI OF GONDAL .... 128 H.H.