15^ Captain Tod's Comments on a Sanscrit Inscription. 



•' be united to the Sun, to be worshipped by IndrAni. On earth he will 

 " know no second birth.' " 



This was one of the occasions when the sultan was made prisoner. The 

 battle was long and bloody, and many chiefs of the Hindus fell that day. 

 The poet brings the whole of the persons of the drama forward on this 

 occasion, celestial and terrestrial. 



He talks of the " crescent array" of the Chohdns ; and names the com- 

 manders of the wings and main body : while the sultan moved in five deep 

 columns. 



" As he beheld the red colour of the blood-stained field, Bhairava (the 

 " God of War) danced to the cymbal, beat by the fifty-two of his train. 

 " Above, Nareda sounds his lyre. The heavenly Apsaras sing. The 

 " Devatds dance with delight at the deeds of the men below. Such the 

 " feats of the heroes of Gur and Sdmbhari's Lord. Their uplifted swords, 

 " swimming in the air, form halos. Mighty chiefs lie on the field ; their 

 " bodies floating in the wave of the steel." 



In raising the mansion of tlie Sun above the other abodes, we have 

 some additional reason for surmising a Scythian origin to the Rdjpiit race. 

 Absorption in the solar orb, the great God of the Scythians, was the su- 

 preme wish. Their general rites, also, have a strong analogy to those, as 

 well as of Odm's sons. Herodotus informs us, that the wives, arms, and 

 horses of the Scytliian or Gcte warrior, were a sacrifice with him, that he 

 might enjoy them in tlie next world. The same description will nearly 

 answer for tlie funeral rites of the three countries. Those of the Prince of 

 Udeijapur might have been worked into Gibbon's animated description of 

 Alaric's funeral, or might have supplied Mr. Herbert with his description 

 of the bier of Hialmar. 



It was in 1818 this prince's obsequies were celebrated. He was carried 

 to " the place of great sacrifice," on a travelling throne, on which he was 

 seated, dressed and armed as when in the vigour of life; the heron's plume 

 adorned his turban, his shield on his shoulder, and brand in hand. On 

 either side of the regal bier rode, on his chargers, richly caparisoned, his 

 three young wives, and a favourite concubine, all under nineteen years of 

 age ; their fine countenances, this their last day on earth, unveiled to the 

 gaze of the multitude, who saw them, with sentiments of admiration, re- 

 spect, and pit}', about to offer themselves voluntary and expiatory sacrifices 

 for their deceased lord, to enjoy his society in the regions above. The 

 chiefs headed the procession, unarmed, and on foot. 



