South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

away Khanakhana’s wives and honourably returned them to Khānakhānā.^[1] Śēkhū wondered at that. Afterwards Śēkhū became the king Jahāṁgīra of Dillī and came again to fight with Pratāpa whom he encircled. Leaving behind his son Khurrama (Prince Khurram), Jahāṁgīra returned to Delhi. Afterwards Pratāpa met the Sulatāna Chagtā Sērima,^[2] paternal uncle of the king of Dillī, who was mounted on an elephant in battle at the pass of Dēvēra,^[3] where a Sōlaṁkī paḍihāraka (pratihāra) chopped off two legs of the elephant, and Pratāpa himself pierced the temple of the animal. The elephant fell down and Sērima then mounted a horse. Then Pratāpa’s son Amara pierced Sērima along with his gorse with a spear. At Pratāpa’s command Amara pulled out the spear from the body of Sērima. Sērima desired to see the warrior who struck him like that whereupon Pratāpa showed him a soldier. Sērima said it was not the man. Then Pratāpa showed him his son Amara whom Sērima recognised and praised. Then eightyfour sthānapālas (chiefs) went to Kōsīthala (Kosīthal ṭhikānā in Udaipur State), etc., and Pratāpa dwelt at Udayapura, where he once presented his turban and some money t a bard. This bard later happened to go to see the king of Dilli. At that time he took off that turban from his head and kept it in his hand. When he saluted the king of Dillī in that manner, the Sultan asked what it was and was told that as the turban had belonged to Rānā Pratāpa he did not keep it on his head. The emperor understood the implication and was pleased.^[4] Thus Rānā Pratāpa became famous among both Hindus and Muslims as an ‘ unbendable ’ hero.

The canto thus closes with the glorification of Rāṇā Pratāpa.

The language in the latter half of the canto is not explicit. It presupposes a knowledge on the part of the reader of the wellknown events connected with the life of the Mahārāṇā as narrated in bardic chronicles, and thus summarises a number of events in a disconnected manner.

Slab VI ; Canto V

After Rāṇā Pratāpa, his son Amarasiṁha came to the throne, some details of whose history have already been given above, such as his part in his father’s fight against Mānasiṁha, his taking away of Khānakhānā’s wives and his killing of Sulatāna Sērima. He also fought with Khurrama, son of Jahāṁgīra and afterwards with Abadullahakāna.^[5] He was surrounded by twentyfour chiefs (sthānēśvaras). He killed Kāyamakhāna (Qāim Khān), a servant of the king of Dillī, at Ūṁṭālā (Untālā, 20 miles north-east of Udaipur). There he destroyed Mālapura. His son Karṇasiṁha destroyed Sirōṁja (Sironj in the former Tonk State), Mālava and Dhaṁdhēmrā (perhaps Dhanērā in the former Indore State), and got much booty.^[6] Then at the command of Jahāṁgīra, Khurram entered into a treaty with Amarasiṁha who came down from his place, Udayapura, to Gōghūṁdā (20 miles north-west of Udaipur) whereto Khurrama also came. There they both met in a worthy manner and contracted friendship.^[7] Rāṇā Amarasiṁha dwelt in Udayapura where

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^[1] Mirzā Khānkānā, son of Bairam Khān. This is also well known from the chronicles. See Tod (Crooke’s ed.), Annals and Antiquities of Rājasthān, p. 398.
^[2] The name of Chagtā Sērima, who is mentioned here as uncle of the king of Delhi, is not met with in the Akbarnamā and Tūzuk-Jahāngīrī. As has been pointed out by Deviprasad, he was, perhaps, an officer of the Moghul army whom the writer of the record has inadvertently called as uncle of the king of Delhi (ibid., p. 33, note). Bhandarkar has inadvertently identified him with Salīm Jahāngīr (List of North Indian inscriptions, p. 137), for in the present record he is called Jahāngīr’s uncle. We know from Muslim records that Jahāngīr was too young to join the battle and that the king of Delhi at this time was Akbar and not Jahāngīr.
^[3] This pass is two miles to the west of Dewir in the south-easternmost part of Ajmēr-Mārwārā.
^[4] This event is also mentioned by Munshi Deviprasad in his Mahārāṇa Śrī Pratāpasiṁhajī jīvan-charitra. See Ojha, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 486, n. 2.
^[5] Abdullā Khān Firoz Jang, a commander of Jahangir’s army, who according to Muslim historians defeated Karan, the son of Rānā Amarsing in 1611.
^[6] See Ojha, ibid., Vol. I, pp. 492-93.
^[7] See ibid., pp. 496-97.