Tara: A Mahratta Tale

by Meadows Taylor

  CHAPTER LII.

  The Khan was to march early next morning for the fort, but hisdeparture was delayed purposely to allow of the troops to send outparties to perform the ceremony of "Istikbal," or meeting; and, afteragain partaking of the good Durwaysh's hospitality, the party rode onwithout interruption.

  The road from Boorhanpoor to Nuldroog leads up the pretty and fertilevalley of the Boree river, which is skirted by low grassy hills forseveral miles. Then leaving the river, as the hills grow bolder, itrises gradually through passes among them, and, after several steep andstony ascents, gains a level plateau, from whence the fort and town aredistinctly seen below.

  Soon after leaving their post, the party began to meet others from thefort, dressed in their gayest and best costumes; and these, having madetheir salutes to the Khan, rode forward to the front, so that graduallythe men in advance swelled to a considerable number, and had all theappearance of an independent body of cavalry. Out of this, wherever theground afforded room, and was free from ruts and stones, men dashedat speed, wheeling and circling their horses, so that their movementsappeared like those of a real skirmish.

  When they reached the level plain on the summit of the plateau abovethe town, the Khan was met by the Killadar, or governor of the fort,the principal officers of the troops, the civil authorities, andothers; some on horseback, others on gaily-caparisoned elephants withclashing bells. Both parties dismounting, and the leaders havingembraced each other,--the officers presenting the hilts of their swordsas Nuzzurs, or offerings to the Khan,--the procession--for it had nowbecome one--moved on slowly in gorgeous array, amidst the firing ofmatchlocks and camel swivels and welcome guns from the fort; and theappearance of the Khan and his gallant son, as they rode togetherthrough the main street and bazar, dressed in rich cloth-of-gold, was asubject of general remark and approbation by all classes. The prospectof a campaign, always pleasant to the soldiers, especially under sorenowned a leader as Afzool Khan, increased the general satisfaction ofall concerned.

  As they passed its first gate, the booming of cannon from the rampartsannounced their arrival within the fort, and was answered by gunsfrom the encampment on the heights to the west. Passing the ditch by acauseway, they entered the fausse-braye by a narrow passage, and thenceascending slightly to the main entrance, with its massive flankingbastions of black basalt, the interior was reached--at that time a busyplace, crowded with houses and shops in some parts, but in others laidout in open gardens, and spaces where the troops could assemble.

  A curious and picturesque spot in many respects is this fort. Builtupon a tongue of basalt, which is precipitous on three sides, and ofconsiderable height, it is joined to the level portion of the plateauto the west, on which the town stands, by a neck considerably narrowerthan the enceinte; and on this side a double wall with bastions, anda deep dry ditch, form the defences. Round the edge of the precipicesof the hill itself, is a single wall of great strength, with largebastions at intervals; and the river Boree, lying deep in the valleybelow, washes the base of the hill on two sides, north and east.

  To the north, to secure a constant supply of water to the fort, astupendous dam of masonry has been thrown across the river upwards ofseventy feet high, and of proportional thickness, by which the water isheld up in the valley, so as to form a pretty lake of the same depth atthe dam, which extends above the town. On the other side of this dam isanother fort on a smaller knoll, which serves as a _tete-de-pont_ tothe dam, and completes the fortification.

  To the old Khan the place was familiar. He had often taken turns ofduty there to watch the frontier, but to Fazil and his friend itwas new; and when ceremonies of reception and the introduction ofKowas Khan to the officers of his father's levies, now his own, werefinished, the friends accepted the offer of the Killadar to examine themarvels of the place.

  The wonderful dam, through the upper sluices of which the stream wasprecipitated into a deep pool at its foot, in two pretty cataracts;the suite of apartments in the body of the dam itself, over which theriver rolled in flood, and fell in a sheet before its windows; and thenoble Cavalier at the east end, from the top of which extensive viewsof the country on all sides were obtained, were duly admired. It wasevening when the friends reached the summit of the Cavalier, and theysate there watching the glorious sunset, over town and fort and lake,in which the piles of gold and crimson clouds broken with dark purple,with the sombre masses of fort walls and bastions, and precipices onwhich they stood, were reflected in its deep waters.

  It was not so easy to prepare the troops required there as at thecapital; but the Khan was anxious that nothing should be wanting intheir equipment, and a few days was required to complete preparationsfor the field. This delay enabled the chief officers of the countryto arrive and pay their respects, and, among others, Pahar Singh, nolonger disguised, but in his proper character as one of the wardens ofthe frontier marches, attended and did service with a body of pickedmen, both horse and foot, which rivalled, if they did not surpass, theroyal troops in completeness and splendour of appearance.

  Very different were the chief and his nephew now, in comparison withthe time when we last saw them; and in the noble figure, dressed inlight chain armour and cloth-of-gold, riding a superb grey horse, andgiving commands to his men, no one could have recognized the old raggedFakeer and his cry of "Ulla dilaya to leonga," which still often rangin the ears of those who had heard it.

  The building, which went by the name of the King's Palace, and whichwas kept for the use of royal officers of rank, or even for royaltyitself, should the King have occasion to visit the fort, had beenassigned to Afzool Khan and his retinue; and, after the transactionof daily business in one of the public halls of the fort, he retired,after evening prayer, to his apartments, finding relaxation in a gameof chess with the priest, who was a stout opponent, or hearing ordictating his public correspondence.

  It was the fourth evening after his arrival, after an unusually busyday; the priest was occupied with a sermon in the mosque, and the Khanhad retired into one of the rooms of the house, which, being built intopart of the fort wall, possessed a projecting oriel window, commandinga view of the whole of the east side of the fort, with its walls andrugged cliffs. By day these precipices did not appear extraordinarilyremarkable; but when shrouded in the gloom of evening and night, withthe river brawling beneath them in its rocky bed, their height andeffect were indefinitely increased, and the murmur of the river belowbecame delightfully soothing.

  One corner of this oriel, furnished with cushions, had become thefavourite resort of the Khan. Here he had been sitting alone andundisturbed, and occupied with despatches and other papers the wholeof the evening; and he was about to retire to rest when an attendantentered, somewhat abruptly.

  "I said I was not to be disturbed, Allee," he cried; "what dost thouwant?"

  "My lord, there is a man without, who says he has urgent business,and he must have speech of you alone. I said it was impossible; buthe declared you would be angry with me if you knew he were denied,and that I was to say to you, 'Ulla dilaya to leonga,' and you wouldunderstand."

  "Admit him, instantly," said the Khan, to his servant's astonishment."Ha, Pahar Singh again! what new work has he now got here for us?"

  Muffled closely in a sheet, with his sword under his arm, the chiefapproached the Khan, and bent lowly before him. "Send that man away,and hear what I have to say," he said; "it is important."

  Allee looked at the chief suspiciously, as though he were trusting hismaster to a dangerous character; but, at a reiteration of the order, hereturned to depart.

  "Take this weapon with you, friend," said the chief, laughing, "thouart afraid of it, perhaps; not so thy lord,--nor of me. Keep it for me,however, till I come out."

  Allee took the sword. "I did not like the look of him," he said toanother without, who belonged to the fort. "Who is he?"

  "Dost thou not know Pahar Singh?" returned the man; "that is his famoussword Devi, which has drank many a man's blood;
come, let us look atit. There will be something to do, surely, as he is with the Khan."

  "I have but a few words to say, Afzool Khan," said Pahar Singh, as theservant retired; "and I can do a good service, if it please you, mylord, to join in it or aid it."

  "If it be a service to the King's cause, why not?" said the Khan; "butnone of thy blood feuds, Pahar Singh; thou canst not use the royaltroops for thine own purposes."

  "Nor do I need them, my lord," returned the chief, somewhat stiffly."I have enough men of my own to answer for those matters; nay, indeed,for this also, if I have your permission; and only that my rascals aresomewhat too free of hand to be trusted in a town at night, I had doneit myself ere this."

  "Thanks, friend, for thy caution," said the Khan, smiling; "we shallknow each other better by-and-by. But what is this scheme?"

  "When I left you, Khan Sahib, the night of Jehandar Beg's execution,"replied the chief, "I had knowledge that Tannajee Maloosray was in thecity, and I knew where he was. My people watched every bazar and streetduring the day, and we had a strong party near the Goruk Imlee trees,thinking he might like to come and see an old friend for the last time;but he kept close, like a bear in his den, till night, and then stoleaway. My boy and some of my people wanted to catch him in his den; butI knew Tannajee could not be taken alive by mortal, and I wanted tosee him sit like Jehandar Beg under the trees, and die like a man; soI took a body of my horse and rode after him towards Tooljapoor, wherehe was going. We occupied the pass at Hortee. But he escaped us there,Khan; and hearing afterwards he had gone to Jutt, there appeared tobe no use in following him, as he had twenty-five coss start of us.But I was a fool, my lord; and for once Tannajee outwitted me. He wenton next day to Tooljapoor; how, I know not. He was seen there in thetemple, and he left again that night, no one knows whither."

  "To Tooljapoor in one day!" exclaimed the Khan, "no horse alive coulddo it."

  "Ah, my lord, your high-fed beasts would not, but ours can; andTannajee and his friend Netta Palkur have the best mares in the Dekhan.No matter; he escaped us."

  "He was--he is--the very bone and sinew of this rebellion," said theKhan.

  "True, as Sivaji Rajah is the spirit; but he left some of the bonesbehind him at Tooljapoor," returned the chief, with a grim smile; "andI can pick them up for you, my lord, if you will either help me or letme do it alone as best I can; only remember, if the town is plundered,you know the cause, and I am not responsible for the blame."

  "That you had better avoid, friend," said the Khan, "you are badlyspoken of already. But the bones, good fellow, the bones! who or whatare they?"

  "Ah! I had forgotten them," continued Pahar Singh. "Well, there is MoroTrimmul, Maloosray's agent and shadow; as wily, and more mischievous.He is still at Tooljapoor, pretending to give recitations,--and theyare very good, my lord, in their way,--and to serve at the temple; butI am not sure that one of the Moorlees is not at the bottom of it, andwhen a man gets into women's hands, he is easily caught. Then thereare all those who will assemble there. Have you remarked, my lord,that hardly one of the heads of the old Mahratta families have come topresent their Nuzzurs to you?"

  "I have remarked it," returned the Khan, "but supposed they were afraidof some demand for forage, or horses, or money, and therefore keptclear of me."

  "Not at all," returned the chief, "they have all sworn to aid Sivaji,and Maloosray took an account of their quotas of horse and foot withhim to the Rajah."

  "Then they met Maloosray?"

  "They did, my lord, the night he came to the temple, and here aretheir names. There are other people, you see, who have ears and eyesbesides Maloosray; and only that your Naeik at Tooljapoor is an owl,he had seen this conspiracy long ago, while I was too busy to watchit. Better, perhaps, he did not; we can do our work more securely. Andnow, do you wish to seize this gang of rebels or not? I advise you todo so, because they are strong, and, should there be any difficultiesin the West, are capable of making a serious diversion, especiallyif Maloosray, or even this Brahmun,--who is more of a soldier than apriest,--get among them. These Nimbalkurs and Ghoreparays, my lord,quiet as they look, are heavily supported by the people; and if theRamoosees rise with them, the country will be in a flame."

  "And how dost thou know all this, Pahar Singh?" asked the Khan. "I musthave some warranty that it is true."

  "Some months ago, my lord," he replied, "this very Moro Trimmul andothers canvassed me as to joining Sivaji's band, and offered mewhatever terms I pleased to ask. I refused, for I was content as I was."

  "That means," remarked the Khan dryly, "that thou wouldst have joinedthem if there had been anything to be got by it."

  "My lord is still incredulous," returned the chief, "and perhaps Ideserve doubt till I have given him further proof. But I feel theKing's hand on my head still, and his pardon is more to me thanpromises, of Mahratta, or Moghul either."

  "Good!" said the Khan; "it is well said, and I believe thee. But aboutthese rebels; are they still there? and how many may there be of them?"

  "They are there, my lord," replied the chief. "I was in the temple lastnight disguised as a Byragee, with my nephew and four others: we heardthe recitations from the Ramayun, which, to Hindus, are very much whatthe Peer Sahib is saying now in the mosque yonder, and said yesterdayat the Eedgah on the plain, when the whole force shouted 'Deen, deen!'and it sounded like thunder. Jey Rao Nimbalkur was there, and some ofthe Kallays----"

  "How many?" said the Khan, impatiently interrupting him; "what care Ifor their teeth-breaking names?"

  "Five hundred perhaps, including followers."

  "And is this temple a strong place? Do we require guns?"

  "Strong enough to defend if they knew you were coming," returned PaharSingh, "but for the most part they will be unarmed, and looking at theshow. We need only cavalry to surround the town, and no one can escapeus. No guns, my lord; they could not be taken up the mountain at night,and ours must be a surprise, else the temple will be dark as midnight."

  "Ya Alla! ya Kabiz!" (destroyer of enemies), muttered the Khan tohimself, "a rare trap for these Kaffirs--let them die! Good," hecontinued; "it shall be done; but when? I should march to-morrow forSholapoor."

  "Do so, my lord, and halt at Tandoolwaree; 'tis half way. I will joinyou there with some of my people the day after to-morrow, and leadyou by a pass in the hills which I know of at night, so that we cansurround the place unobserved. Take some of your own men and IbrahimKhan's Abyssinians; they know no fear, and are more certain than thebraggart, plundering Dekhanies, who are afraid of the Mother who sitsin the glen, though they are Mussulmans."

  "What Mother, friend?"

  "Only she in the temple; we Hindus call her the 'Mother'; and she, mylord, must not be touched."

  "No, no; nor her people, I will see to that," said, the Khan.

  "And the affair must be kept secret, Khan," he continued.

  "It is known to thee and me, Pahar Singh, and to no one else; not evenmy son shall know of it till we march."

  "Now let me depart," said the chief, "and the night after next I willcome."

  "God willing," replied the Khan, dismissing his strange visitor with acourteous salutation.