TWO PICTURESQUE FIGURES IN THE JUBILEE.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOE."]
SIR,—I ask for a small space in order to show clearly the exact position of Raja Pratab Sing, who is here to represent the ancient house of Jodhpore, and to fix his relation to Oodeypore, or Udaipur, as the purists spell it now. You say that Jodhpore "contests with Oodeypore the positive primacy of the Hindoo World." That Jodhpore is an ancient and noble house is undeniable. It was founded about four or five centuries ago by Jodha, a descendant of the Rahtore or Rajput Kings of Kanauj. The Maharaja claims to be of the Solar Race, and a descent from Rama, the mythical hero of the Hindu epic. It is also admitted that, at least two of the lesser Rajput States, Bikanir and Kishangurh, derive their origin from Jodhpore. The late Maharaja did good service in the Mutiny. Nevertheless for antiquity, rank, and dignity the highest Rajput State, beyond question, is Oodeypore. Sir Charles Aitchison (Treaties, Vol. IV.) states this as a fact which no one impugns or denies. Sir William Hunter in his Imperial Gazetteer (Vol. XIIL) takes the same view, and it has been adopted by every Agent of the Government of India from the days of Tod to the present time, and by a succession of Viceroys, beginning with the Marquess of Hastings. The Maharana (not Maharaja) of Oodeypore is the elder branch of the Sarjya Vansa, or "Children of the San." He is considered by Hindus to be the actual repre- sentative of Rama, and he can trace his descent from an ancestor, Karak Sen, who founded the family A.D. 144. doubt if any Sovereign, Prince, or nobleman, in Great Britain or on the Continent, can show such a pedigree. Three other Rajput States, Doongarpur, Sirohi, and Pratabgurh, are off- shoots of Oodeypore. No State offered a more stubborn or a nobler resistance to the Muhommadan. invasion ; and its Princes could boast that they never gave one- of their daughters in marriage to the Emperor of Delhi, and that for years they would not intermarry with other Rajput houses which had contracted such alliances.
It might be said of the Maharana, much as Macaulay says of Aubrey de Vere, that he is the noblest subject any Sovereign ever had. Sir Charles Aitchison adds that Jodhpore is next in importance to Jyepore or Jaipur. This latter State was founded as far back as A.D. 967. There was always, within my own knowledge, some dispute between Jyepore and Jodhpore as to their exact precedence ; and I speak from recollection of the Foreign Department of the Government of India, under Lord Dalhousie in I852-53, and again under Lords Lawrence and Mayo in /868-69. Both Chiefs have acknowledged the supremacy of Oodeypore; but as regards their own claim to the next place, the dis- pute was such that the Viceroy, on one occasion, would not receive them at the same time, and so avoided any ill- feeling and unpleasantness. A Princess of the house of Jodlapore was given in marriage to the Emperor Akbar ; but in the reign of Auriangzeb all three States formed an alliance against the Muhommadans, and held their own with the Imperial forces; and in the end the Maharana regranted to both Jyepore and Jodhpore the privilege of marriage which they were held to have forfeited by alliances with Delhi.—I am, Sir, &c.,
WALTER SCOTT SETON-KARR,
67 Lovmdes Square, S.W. II.3,1.'s Bengal C.S. (Retired).
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