110 Notes on the Gnrjat Stale of Patna. [No. 2, 



himself, and pleasing perhaps to a portion of his subjects, still the 

 country paid heavily at the time for his restoration. While party 

 spirit and enmity having now been excited, it was to be expected that, 

 an occasion offering, conflicting interests might again stir them to a 

 blaze ; and again, the plains of Patna having now been opened out 

 to the view of the Mahrattas, it might be regarded as certain that their 

 greed would spend itself on the first opportunity of home dissensions 

 in depredatory incursions. And this prospect was indeed brought to 

 issue as follows. Eaee Singh retained his position for many years, but 

 during this period the roused spirit of discontent and rebellion was 

 spreading through the land, till ultimately it was brought to burst 

 upon the unfortuuate Maharajah, then nearly 80 years old, by the 

 intrigues of his second wife. The story is, that he had three wives, 

 no offspring by the first, two boys by the second, and one son, the 

 eldest of all, by the third. The second wife was fearful that the 

 eldest son by the third Ranee would, as being his father's favourite, 

 succeed to the G-uddee, unless during the Maharajah's life she should 

 take steps to prevent it. The measures she took for prevention were 

 the exciting a general rebellion which resulted as before noted, in the 

 flight of the Maharajah Raee Singh Deo to Sonepore. The Maharajah, 

 however, frustrated the design of his second wife ; for he took her 

 with him to Patna, along with his grandson by his eldest born ; and on 

 his death three years afterwards, appointed him his successor by putting 

 the regular Pugree on his head. During these three years, the whole 

 of Patna was in a state of perfect anarchy. The Ranees at Patna 

 were quarrelling for dominion, and their partizans were pillaging the 

 country indiscriminately around. Life and property were nowhere 

 secure. All respectable persons fled to Sonepore and were followed 

 by numbers of the general population. On the death of the old 

 Rajah the people acknowledged his appointed successor, who then 

 returned to Patna. He was, however, but a youth and found none to 

 advise or assist him, except such as had shared in the outrages of the 

 interregnum. Even his father, dismayed at the state of general 

 disturbance and disappointed at the preference given to his son, retired 

 on a pilgrimage to Allahabad and there died. The young Maharajah, 

 Prithee Singh Deo lived only three years after succeeding to the 

 Guddee. The next ruler was Ramchundur Deo, the captive of the 



