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MAY, 1917)
THE HISTORY OF THE NAIK KINGDOM OF MADURA
105
evening, for instance, he rode, as was always the case with him, alone and unattended to Tanjore, and entering the fort at night, borrowed from a merchant in the bazaar street a pagoda on the deposit of his ring, and used it for his expenses. After a spare diet of milk and butter, he put on the guise and dress of a common sepoy, and entered the king's palace in the dark. Going to the audience hall, he heard with his own ears the discussion of the affairs of the kingdom between the king and his ministers. On his departure,23 we are told, he wrote on the door leading from the throne-hall to the private apartments the fact of his arrival and his attendance during the discussion of state affairs. The next morning he left for Trichinopoly, promising to redeem the ring soon after. Immediately after his return, he called for the Tanjore ambassador, spoke to him of his adventure, and asked him to write to his master, requesting the redeeming of the ring and advising him to maintain a more vigilant guard in the palace.
A similar story illustrative of Ranga Krishọa's heroism and bravery is not out of place here. The Polygar of Ariyalar had in his possession four things of priceless value, a beautiful21 camel, an elephant, a sword and a horse. The predecessors of Ranga Krishna had expressed a desire for these things, but owing to the unwillingness of the Polygar and their own judicious moderation, which scorned the application of force, they had not obtained them. Ranga Krishna now resolved to get possession of them by some means. With that spirit of daring enterprise which formed the chief feature of his character, he rode alone to Ariyalar, bidding his Sirdars and troops follow at a distance. Forcing his way into the town, he reached the palace, and seating himself on the verandah outside, sent word, through the servants, of his arrival. The Polygar, a Nayanâr, who was then engaged in his toilet operations, was taken by surprise and seized with apprehension. A visit of his suzerain, so unusual and so sudden, so simple and so unoeremonious, foreboded, in his eyes, some disaster or disgrace. He therefore hastily finished his work and, accompanied by his children, hurried to present himself before his sovereign, and placed, at his feet, as a mark of homage, a dish full of gems and jewels. In an attitude of humble and respectful loyalty, the Polygar then asked his master for the object of his oondescension; and when Rauga Krishņa mentioned it, he expressed a tactful regret that he put himself to such trouble for such a paltry purpose ; that a single line in writing would have suffioed. The Polygar therefore readily surrendered the objects of his master's desire, an act in which he was, no doubt, actuated by a feeling of fear at the reported approach of an army. The elephant, however, was then subject to a fit and too furious to be approached by anyone. But the bold daring of the Madura monarch, undertook, in the face of loyal protests, the task which none of his servants could dare. With his fine and fleet horse, a noble breed of white, he approached the elephant, and by a series of skilful manoeuvres succeeded in enticing it to Trichinopoly, where the rest of the work of subjugation was undertaken by skilful mahouts. The king had, however, to pay dearly for his new acquisition; for his noble steed, the instrument of his gain, dropped down dead, owing to exhaustion and overwork, the moment he alighted from it.
(To be continued.)
23 Compare the story about Kanthirava Narasa Raj of Mysore (1639-55) who once went incognito to Trichinopoly and slow in a duel the champion of that Court. Wilks' Mysore, I, p. 30.
The camol was called Rama Lakshmapa, the sword Chinna Rama Bana, the elephant Rana Virabhadra, and the horse Muttu Kucehu. The names remind the similar ones prevalent among the Mughals. See, for examplo, Manucoi's Storia do Mogor. M. J. Wodehouse compares Rai & Krishna to the chivalrous James V of Scotland See Ante, Vol. VIL. Pp. 22-26.
