Peeps at Many Lands-India

g gone by the Rajputs held power over the wide plain watered by the Upper Ganges, but seven h

ll the wars which have torn India through all the centuries. They struggled hard against the Brit

ritance; he scorns to hold the plough, or use his lance but on horseback." Of all the brave old stories of Rajput valour and constancy none are more beloved than the tales which hang around the three sacks of Chitore. T

em warrior, to the walls of Chitore at the head of a powerful army. He demanded to see the face of Padmani, were it only a reflection of her face in a mirror. Prince Bhimsi invited him to a feast, and he saw Padmani. When the feast was o

way from the city, and Padmani was in the hands of Allah-u-din. The Moslem gave permission for Bhimsi and Padmani to take a short farewell of each other, and then was seen a proof of Padmani's wit and Rajput devotio

and reached Chitore in safety. But none else escaped. The noble Rajputs, the fl

ed it, and Chitore feared not Allah-u-din until he began to raise a huge mound of earth. He did this by giving gold to all who brought a basketf

right. The goddess of Chitore had appeared to him, saying: "If my altar and

three days. Then the saying of the goddess would be fulfilled, and these twelve must die for Chitore. But when it came

shall go free to recover what was lost.

rriors. "In bridal robes of saffron and cor

sed in their festal robes, and glittering in all their jewels. The last to enter the vault of death was Padmani, and when the gate was closed upon her the men knew their turn had come. Setting the little Prince in the midst of a picke

as an empty triumph. Every house, every street, was still and silent, only

son to inherit the crown, and when a powerful foe came against the city, the child's mother, Kurnavati, sent messenge

a mere cord of silk, bound with a tassel, and hung with seven tiny silken tassels-red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, the colours of the rainbow. The man may accept this bracelet or not, as he

city must fall. Then they remembered the first sack, and all resolved to die in the same way. Kurnavati succeeded in getting her little son away in safety; then she led the women to the funeral pyre. T

D MAHARAJAH. P

of women. Enemies had broken into the palace of Bikramajit. But whose life did they seek above all? Punnia knew, and she saw that Udai Singh was in great danger. How could she save him? There was only one way, a terrible way; but the Rajput woman did not flinch. Two children lay sleeping before her, Udai Sin

ping child, and waited for the murderers. In they bu

e beneath the splendid robe, and hid her face, giving th

sought the river-bed. There she found her nursling, and with him she fled over hill and dale, never resting till she gained a strong fortress held by

o treat brave men. So when the final consummation was once more reached, and thousands of brave men had gone to death by the sword, and thousands of brave women met death by fire, he left the city, levying no ransom, and on the place where his camp had stood raised a white marble tower, from whose top

could not wed all three, and her father feared the vengeance of the fierce men who quarrelled over his daughter's hand. Lest their savage disputes might end in attack upon his city and palace, he said that his daught