Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 7.djvu/208

ANUND RAO PUAR. death. One of the family, Oodajee, rose higher than his brethren, and was selected to establish the predatory claims of the Mahrattas over Malwah and Guzerat; but having fallen under the displeasure of the Peshwah Bajee Rao, his younger brother Anund Rao succeeded him, and founded the principality of Dhar, the ancient capital of their race. He died in 1749, and his son Jeswunt was killed in the battle of Paniput, against the Afghans, under Ahmed Shah Abdalli, leaving an infant son, Anund Rao, two and a half years old, who, with his mother, Anundee Bye, was carried prisoner to the Deccan. How this noble woman struggled to preserve her son and his state, and succeeded, is subject of Mahratta history; but Dhar seemed fated to be unfortunate. Anund Rao died young, leaving his wife Meena pregnant; and the vicissitudes of this suffering lady, which Sir John Malcolm has detailed in chapter 4 of his Central India, in his usual graphic mannet; have not lost their interest. Meena Bye's son died, but she adopted a boy of her own tribe, and she was found acting as regent when Malwah was wrested from the Peshwah in the last Mahratta war. The state was miserably poor. The Puars, helpless as they were, had been harried by Sindia, Holkar, the Gaekwar, and the hereditary enemies of the house, till the country was desolate, and a bare subsistence left; and it may be conceived with what gratitude the widow regent welcomed a power which set her free, and re-established the principality.

Until the mutiny of 1857, the state of Dhar continued to progress quietly. The minor Rajah, established by Sir John Malcolm, was dead, but his son, a minor, reigned in his stead. Taking advantage of the troubles of the close of that year, about 4,000 rebels of various kinds took possession of the strong fort, and were attacked in it by Brigadier Stuart, of the Bombay army. These rebels were at first defiant, and a breach had to be made; but previous to the storm of the place they decamped in the night, and joined another body in the vicinity of Mundissoor. The fortifications of Dhar were then dismantled and blown up.

It was for some time doubtful whether Dhar, from its mutinous opposition to British troops, would not be annexed, and the Rajah pensioned; but as he was an irresponsible minor at the time, he was reinstated in his authority. The state was administered by the Political Agency, and is now very prosperous; the receipts from all sources being Rs. 571,461, which, deducting the expenditure (Rs. 504,264), leaves a surplus of Rs. 66,297. The Rajah has invested Rs. 500,000 in 4 per cent. Government Securities, and has a considerable cash balance in his treasury. In this respect, as indeed in most others, Dhar is an exception to the general rule of debt and difficulty. The young chief manages his own affairs, but is difficult of access, and thus inconvenience is felt by his subjects; but it is probable he will listen to advice, and appoint a responsible minister ere long. He takes great interest in schools, and is reported to be anxious and willing to attend to the desires of the British Government.