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ANNALS AND ANTIQUITIES
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This page is an extract from 
ANNALS AND ANTIQUITIES 
OF 
'''RAJASTHAN ''' 

OR THE CENTRAL AND WESTERN 
RAJPUT STATES OF INDIA 

By 
LIEUT.-COL. JAMES TOD 
Late Political Agent to the Western Rajput States 

Edited with an Introduction and Notes by 
WILLIAM CROOKE, CIE. 
Hon. D.Sc. Oxon., B.A., F.R.A.l. 
Late of the Indian Civil Service 

In Three Volumes 
VOL. IV: ANNALS OF MEWAR 
[The Annals were completed in 1829] 

HUMPHREY MILFORD 
Oxford University Press 
London Edinburgh Glasgow New York 
Toronto Melbourne Bombay 
1920 [The edition scanned] 
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=Sources of the History=

For many years previous to sojourn
ing at the court of Udaipur, sketches were obtained of the genea
logy of the family from the rolls of the bards. To these was added
a chronological sketch, drawn up under the eye of Raja Jai Singh
of Amber, with comments of some value by him, and which served
as a ground-work. Free access was also granted to the Rana's
library, and permission obtained to make copies of such MSS. as
related to his history. The most important of these was the
Khuman Raesa,^ which is evidently a modern work founded upon
ancient materials, tracing the genealogy to Rama, and halting at
conspicuous beacons in this long line of crowned heads, particu
larly about the period of the Muhammadan irruption in the tenth
century, the sack of Chitor by Alau-d-din in the thirteenth
century, and the wars of Rana Partap with Akbar, during whose
reign the work appears to have been recast.

The next in importance were the Rajvilas, in the Vraj Bhakha,
by Man Kabeswara ; * and the Rajratnakar,* by Sudasheo Bhat :
both written in the reign of Rana Raj Singh, the oj^ponent of
Aurangzeb : also the Jaivilas, written in the reign of Jai Singh,
son of Raj Singh. They all commence with the genealogies of the

1 The Balhara kings, and their capital Nahrwala, or Anhilwara Patan,
have given rise to much conjecture amongst the learned. We shall, before
this work is closed, endeavour to condense what has been said by ancient
and modern authorities on the subject ; and from manuscripts, ancient
inscriptions, and the result of a personal visit to this ancient domain, to set
the matter completely at rest. [See p. 122 above.] [" Hippokoura, the royal
seat of Baleo Kouros " {Periplus, vhi. 83). Baleo Kouros has been identified
with Vilivayakura, a name found on coins of the Andhra dynasty (BO, i.
Part ii. 158 ; McCrindle, Ptolemy, 179).]

2 Khuman is an ancient title of the earlier princes, and still used. It was
borne by the son of Bappa, the founder, who retired to Transoxiana, and
there ruled and died : the very country of the ancient Scythic Khomani.
4 Lord of rhyme. 5 Sea of gems.

family, introductory to the military exploits of the princes whose
names they bear.

The Mamadevi Prasistha is a copy of the inscriptions ^ in the
temple of ' the Mother of the Gods ' at Kumbhalmer. Genea
logical rolls of some antiquity were obtained from the widow of an
ancient family bard, who had left neither children nor kindred to
follow his profession. Another roll was procured from a priest
of the Jains residing in Sandrai, in Marwar, whose ancestry had
enjoyed from time immemorial the title of Guru, which they held
at the period of the sack of Valabhipura in the fifth century,
whence they emigrated simultaneously with the Rana's ancestors.
Others were obtained from Jain priests at Jawad in Malwa.
Historical documents possessed by several chiefs were readily
furnished, and extracts were made from works, both Sanskrit
and Persian, which incidentally mention the family. To these
were added traditions or biographical anecdotes furnished in con
versation by the Rana, or men of intellect amongst his chiefs [215],
ministers, or bards, and inscriptions calculated to reconcile dates ;
in short, every corroborating circumstance was treasured up
which could be obtained by incessant research during sixteen
years. The Commentaries of Babur and Jahangir, the Institutes
of Akbar, original grants, public and autograph letters of the
emperors of Delhi and their ministers, were made to contribute
more or less ; yet, numerous as are the authorities cited, the
result may afford but little gratification to the general reader,
partly owing to the unpopularity of the subject, partly to the
inartificial mode of treating it.