Operation In Search of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Mumbai Circle 1

Author(s): P Piterson
Publisher: Royal Asiatic Society

Page 60

IN TIE BOMBAY CIRCLE.
of the commonplacc stuti, which he carries about with him as a charm, is all, so far as I could find, that is left of the Icarning and culture of the city where the scribe Jallaņa, the son of Sivadeva, wrote centuries ago on palm-lcaf, the copy of Nami's
east. But the summit of Chittore is a low table land. We were between tho hill and the now rising sun : and the first object brought out of darkness by his rays was the magnificent tower of victory raised by Khumba Rana to commemorate a victory over a Muhammadan invader for hundred years ago.
Next we saw the diadem of towers-there is no other expression for it-tbat still, in anbroken line, encircles the brow of Chittore. As one gazes upwards it seems impossible to believe that such a line of defence was ever stormed. As & matter of fact, I do not believe that it ever was. The ficrce Alla-u-din and his host lay patiently below, the monarch managing the affairs of his vast dominions from his permanent camp in partibus, much as a vaster dominion is managed now from a shooting-box in the Himalayas, while his soldiers ravaged the plains far and wide. From time to time a Rajput chief, weary of inactions and as careless of the general weal as King James at Flodden, would throw open the gate entrusted to his charge, and sally down into the plain to fall an easy prey to his disciplined foe. The day came when this was done for the last time, and when the heart of a man in the feeble body of the Rajput widowed queen, who rode side by side with her boy at the head of the sally, availcd not to secure the usual safe retreat for the remnant of the defeated host.
The invaders entered at the open door. Far to the south, Padmini-name never to be forgotten by Rajput heart-heard the despairing cry which told that the end had come, and straightway, followed by every wifo, widow, and maiden in the fortress, sought and found
"That place of shelter
Where the focman cannot come," and the victor stained his triumph by the indiscriminate butchery of all that remained of the chivalry of Mewar,
We could only devote that day and the next to Chittore, and were glad to find that there would be no difficulty about climbing the hill that afternoon. The Hakam or governor of the place courteously sent a horse and a chair, and we started about four o'clock. There is a lovely bit of river scenery which lies between the bungalow and the hill; next the modern town of Chittore, which lies at the foot of the hill, and presents no feature of great interest, has to be traversed ; and then an easy ascent, which takes about an hour, brings you to the summit. I might say much of the monuments of antiquity that are crowded together there; but I do not know that any one of these is more impressive than the general aspect of the place itself. Chittore is a city of the dead. But it is that in this unique senso, that the dead of Chittore have not yielded up their titlo deeds either to the kiudly hands of restoring nature or to the generations that have followed them. Every house is empty; but every house stands ready to be occupied if only the rightful owners would come back. I cannot analyse the impression made on