1872.] J. Beames — Wiapsocties of Gambhir Bdi. 157 



The book was for a day or two a complete puzzle to me. The rudeness 

 of the writing, the uncertainty about the subject, and the archaic form of 

 the language, seemed to combine to conceal the author's meaning. By 

 degrees, however, much became plain, though there are still words and lines 

 which I have not succeeded in interpreting. 



The poem is not a chronicle or connected history. It is a series of 

 chants, or as we may fairly call them " rhapsodies," using the word in its old 

 Greek meaning of short panegyrics, or songs sung by the family bard at the 

 court of the Eajput prince whom he served. 



The bard in this instance calls himself Gambhie E,a'i, though in one 

 or two poems the names of other bards are introduced as Kalyan Rai, 

 Maniram Kavi, and even Kavi Chand. The majority, however, are by 

 Gambhir, and bear his name as usual at the beginning of the last line of 

 each rhapsody in the old Indian fashion " Kahat Gambhir Rai, &c." 



The poems are in praise of Ra'ja' Jagat Singh, lord of Nurpiir, Mau, 

 and Pathan in the north-western corner of present Kangra District near 

 the left bank of the Bias River. From his immense stores of knowledge 

 on all that concerns the Mughul dynasty in India, Mr. Blochmann has 

 courteously supplied me with information on the subject of this Raja. 



Jagat Singh, son of Basudev Singh, zamindar of Mau, and other places 

 adjacent, was one of those gallant, hard-hitting old Rajput chieftains whom 

 the Mughul emperors knew so well how to attract to their service. Ja- 

 hangir, under whom he served in Bengal, gave him the title of Raja with 

 a mansab of 1000. He subsequently rose to a command of 3000. In the 

 8th year of Shah Jahan, he was appointed to Bangash, the hill country south- 

 west of Peshawar, and subsequently to Kabul, and distinguished himself in 

 the wars in Kandahar and on the Persian and Turkistan frontiers. In the 

 13th year, he and his son Rajriip Singh rebelled, and garrisoned their momitain 

 fortresses of Mau, Taragarh, Nurpur, and Pathan. Shah Jahan sent an im- 

 mense army to attack them under the command of Sayyid Khan Jahan 

 Barha and Sa'id Khan Bahadur Zafarjang, supported by numerous Khans 

 and by contingents of Rajput and zamindari levies. 



After a long series of battles and sieges in which in spite of their over- 

 whelming numbers, the royal troops were more than once repulsed, Jagat 

 Singh was at last conquered. The Emperor could not, however, afford to 

 lose the services of so stout and warlike a vassal, and Jagat easily made his 

 peace and was sent to Kandahar with Prince Dara Shikoh, where he again 

 distinguished himself. He returned, and died at Peshawar in A. H. 1055, 

 (A. D. 1616).* 



* This brief account is condensed from Mr. Blochmann's notes and translation 

 from the Padishahnamah, II., pp. 237fF. I reserve the full account, in order to publish 

 it with the complete text of the poems hereafter. 



