________________
managers of the Subah and the above mentioned Sarkar, to exert themselves for the continual and permanent observance of this hallowed ordinance, (and) to permit the above mentioned district to remain in the possession of the above named person and of his descendants in lineal succession from generation to generation, and to him exempted from all demands and taxes, and all other dues, (and) not to demand from him in respect hereof a new sanad every year, (and) they shall not swerve from this order.
Written on the 9th of the month of Zil-kadah in the Hijra year 1068 (8th August, 1658 A.D.).
[On the back of the farman :) A mandate of the Nawab, the possessor of holy titles, the fruit of the garden, a worthy successor, the fruit of the tree of greatness, a lamp of the noble family, a light of the great house, the pupil of the eye of grandeur and fortune, the pride of greatness and glory, of noble birth, the exalted, the praised one by the tongue of the slave and free, the famous (and) victorious prince Muhammad Sultan Bahadur.91
Muhammed
Sultan Bahadur. the Son of the Victorious Muhammad Aurangzib,
1068
In the eighteenth century, Kathiawad was much infested by predatory bands of Kolis, Kathis, and Barwatias, and a pilgrimage to Palitana was then attended with no small danger. The Gaikawad of Baroda, also, extended his influence over most of the smaller states, and made them pay tribute or cauth, as the price of forbearing to ravage their territories. The Palitana Thakur or Chief, it is said, stipulated with the principal Sravakas, in 1750 for a moderate annual contribution, to grant them his protection for the Sanghas and the Hill. This continued till 1788, when, they, say the tax on the pilgrims was greatly increased. In 1808, when British influence was first extended over Kathiawad, the Palitana Chieftain was found to be incapable of managing his own affairs. He was at enmity with his own son, and deeply in debt to the Sravaka Saukars, whilst the estate was nearly ruined. Unable to pay his Arab and Mekran mercenaries, he assigned to them his grāsa of revenue from the Hill, and quartered on it these disorderly soldiers, whose habits and conduct were most revolting
91
Special Appeal, ut. sup., which is unfortunately defaced by very numerous typographical errors. What follows of this section is partly derived from the same volume.
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