XXXViil Annual Address. [February, 1915. 
monial songs are genuine, that is, contemporary with the facts 
in question, they can well be classed as historical documents. 
An example is furnished by the following song, which records 
a battle fought at Kusano, against odd forces of Mahomedans, 
by the Rathor Varjag, under the reign of Satal of Jodhpur, 
the founder of Satalmir towards the middle of the fifteenth 
century. The battle is compared by the bard to the gigantic 
a scholar are eloquently described by Col. Tod in the tenth 
chapter of his Annals of Marwar. The poem comprises 7,500 
stanzas. The subject is a description of the reign and exploits 
of the Rathor Maharajah Abhai Singh of Jodhpur, with whom 
Karni Dan was contemporary, and in whose politics and wars 
poems are framed much on the same plan. First comes 4 
series of propitiatory verses in the form of stuéi to the five 
deities, Ganapati, Sarasvati, Siva, Surya and Narayana; 
next, an explanation of the title and subject of the poem, an 
after this, a rajavamsavali or genealogical sketch of the ruling 
family to which the hero of the poem belongs. This vamsavalt 
is not a mere string of names; it occupies over one-third of 
the whole work, and is a poetical history of the Rathor family 
from its mythical progenitor Brahma down to Abhai Singh. 
Since tradition traces back the Rathor family to the Solar 
dynasty to which Rama belonged, this vamsavali naturally 
contains also an account of Rama, a miniature Ramayana not 
altogether devoid of interest. The biographical and historical 
particulars concerning the other members of the family natur- 
