CHAPTER 2
Among the six hundred odd princely states of British India, the kingdom of Ratangarh figured somewhere at the bottom in the warrant of precedence. The ruler merited only a five gun salute, as against the twenty one guns that were fired in honour of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Small, landlocked, hemmed in by British territory on all sides, it was without any strategic or economic importance and thus a was looked upon by the British as something of a joke. Yet it had one distinction that many grader states locked, it was one of the oldest states of India, being almost a thousand years old, and the same family had occupied the throne, in an unbroken line of succession, ever since the state was founded. The ruler claimed descent from the mythical Nag Rajas, or the serpent kings, and the founder of the state was supposed to have come down from the north, during the disturbed period following Mahmud’s incursions into India. He had come down to this sheltered oasis among the forests on the banks of the Narmada and set up his kingdom. Since then empires had come and gone, but the state had survived. Its survival was, in fact, the most remarkable fact about it. There was no earthly reason why it should have survived, because it was surrounded by enemies. To the north first there was the sultan of Malwa and then the Moghuls, to the south there were first the Marathas then the British, any one of whom could have crushed the state like a gnat. Yet the kingdom had somehow survived and this remarkable feat was ascribed, not to any military prowess, but to the power and protection of the state’s tutelary deity, the goddess Virasani; whose famous temple at Antara was an object of fervent devotion for the entire population of the state.
There was a charming legend connected with this temple, reported in the state gazetteer. The founder of the state, Virat Dev, Fleeing from enemies, had finally taken shelter in the neighbouring forests where he had been wandering for many days, hungry, tired and alone, when he arrived at a small clearing ion the jungle, (So says the Gazetteer!) Here a strange sight met his eyes. Sitting on a rock in the middle of the clearing and apparently deep in meditation was a woman of surpassing beauty. Virat Dev walked into the clearing, stepping gingerly so as not to disturb the lady, and sat down some distance form her to await developments, Nothing happened for a long time. Then a movement at the edge of the clearing caught his eyes. Looking intently at the spot, he saw a large cobra slithering towards the rock where the goddess-like woman was meditating. Now, being descended from the race of serpent kings, Virat Dev had power over all snakes, (so goes the legend) and he commanded the cobra to go away. His commands were obeyed, and just as he was commanding the snake, the lady opened her eyes. She spoke to him in a courteous fashion, using an old fashioned and stately form of speech. Their dialogue, as reported in the gazetteer, went as follows:-
“I am thankful to you O King! For having come to my rescue. What was ordained has come to pass.”
“O noble lady! I do not understand you. What is it that was ordained. Did you know about the snake, and if you did why did you not do something about it.”
“I was ordained, O King! That you should come to my rescue in this fashion. Although the snake could cause me no harm, I had to wait for you to perform your role. Know that I am Virasani, the dweller in these woods, the spirit of these mountains and this river. It is further decreed that you shall regain a new kingdom if you build a temple for me and worship me as your tutelary deity. Be careful to appoint a chaste maiden as my priestess and no other, and no harm shall come to you kingdom if you build a temple for me and worship me as your tutelary deity. Be careful to appoint a chaste maiden as my priestess and no other, and no harm shall come to your kingdom for a thousand years. Thus saying, the strange maiden, (so says the gazetteer!) disappeared. Virat Dev took this portent from heaven to heart. He collected all his kinsmen and with their help, and his own bravery and courage, soon established his hegemony over the neighbouring area. And thus was born the kingdom of Ratangarh.
This legend is not only charming, it is also remarkable for two other things. First, goddess Virasani is not a prominent member of the Hindu pantheon of deities, there are very few temples dedicated to her. And second, even where there are such temples, the officiating priest is always a man. Having a woman as her priest and oracle, makes the temple of Virasani at Antara, unique among the temples of India.
Apart from the temple of Virasani and the ancient ruling family, the other remarkable thing about the state was the constant rivalry between the two dominant castes living there-the Brahmins and the thakurs. The Thakurs, although much fewer in number than the Brahmins, formed the ruling class. The leading ilakedars-as the chief feudatories of the state were called-were all Thakurs and in most villages the main landowning family belonged to this caste. All the Thakurs claimed kinship with the ruling family and almost all of them-even the very poorest-maintained a retinue of down at hell retainers to show to the world that they belonged to the ruling class. These thakurs, with their tatterdemalion retainers, strutted about the villages and were not shy of using strong-arm methods against those who did not accept their pretensions. For its part the government of the state was willing to overlook minor incidents of this kind because the thakurs were, after all, its mainstay.
All this was intensely resented by the Brahmins, who were far more numerous than the thakurs and enjoyed a superior position in the caste hierarchy. The Brahmins did not have large landholdings but they were much better educated than the thakurs. They supplied the state with most of its teachers, doctors, civil servants and other officials. They were the dominant cast in the Congress party. Although the Congress was not allowed to operate in the state, it has its affiliates which functioned in the guise of social reform parties. It was understood that as and when the Congress launched a nationwide struggle against British rule, these affiliates would also join hands with it. The dominance of Brahmins in the state bureaucracy and their political influence in the Congress party gave them the courage to oppose the oppression of the ruling class.
Among the Brahmins none resented the arrogance of the thakurs more bitterly than Manmohan Dube, a Brahmin youth whose family, though poor, enjoyed a pre-eminent position in the state due to its learning. Many of the dewans of the state had come from the Dube family, and the rajpurohit, as the state’s head priest was called, belonged to a collateral branch. But Manmohan would have remained an angry young man, if Uday Singh had not stepped into the picture, Uday Singh was a close relative of the king and a notorious philanderer and it was his attempted misbehaviour with Manmohan’s cousin Sunanada which turned him into Mann Singh the bandit.
It happened one day when Manmohan was driving his cousin to Ratangarh. Uday Singh with two of his retainers suddenly appeared on the scene and barred the way. As Manmohan slowed the trap down and finally stopped, to avoid crashing into the two horses that stood across the narrow track, a burly, moustachioed retainer got off his horse. He swaggered up to the trap and caught hold of the reins. The second retainer also got down and walked up with the same arrogance.
“His Highness wants to talk to the lady,” he said, making it sound more like a command than a request.
“But the lady does not want to talk to him.”
“Shut the lady does not want to talk to him.”
“Shut up pandit and make yourself scarce if you want to save your skin,” said the second servitor.
“Where is His Highness?”
The servant pointed to a carriage that stood behind the horses.
Before they could react, Manmohan strode up to the phaeton, opened the door and dragged out the man who was sitting inside. The man inside was, like the others, too surprised to react, but when the servants saw their master being dragged out like a sack of potatoes, they rushed to his rescue. They were however, no match for Manmohan, who was very strong. He used the horsewhip that he carried to such good effect that one of the assailants were soon brought down senseless, the second fled the scene. However, taking advantage of the melee, Uday Singh made good his escape and Manmohan finally returned to his own phaeton, shaking his head ruefully.
“I am sorry, cousin, I should not have allowed Uday Singh to get away.”
“It’s all right. You taught him a lesson anyway. He will now think twice before molesting another girl. But it’s not Uday Singh who bothers me, it’s you that I am worried about.”
“Me, why should you worry about me.”
“Dear brother, you are brave and strong, I know, but now the thakurs will be after you, Uday Singh will use all his influence and power to harm you. And we know that he has the backing of the king. You can fight these thakurs on your own, but what can you do when the government itself supports them. That is what bothers me.”
“My dear cousin, nothing will come of worrying. I know you are right. Uday Singh will do everything in his power to settle scores, and the king will back him up. After all they are close relatives. But I will find some way out, not to worry.”
The way out was to disappear into the jungles and then re-emerge as a Robin Hood character who appeared on the scene whenever there was a case of oppression by the ruling caste. He soon became famous as a champ famous as a champion, not just of Brahmins, but of all those who were victims of oppression, especially of comely young women who no longer had to fear the lustful advances of their local Thakur landlord. Thus was born the legend of Maan Singh.
The King found the presence of Maan Singh useful. He acted as a check on the more notorious of his own kinsmen and was thus able to maintain public order more effectively than the police. Public resentment against the ruling clan never really rose to a fever pitch because Maan Singh was there to avenge any atrocity and the king found that the ruling class now looking to the state for protection. The result was an overall improvement in law and order and respect for the authority of the state that suited the king very well. He was thus content to turn a Nelson’s eye on the activities of Maan Singh.
All this however, changed, when General Dyer ordered his Gurkhas fire pm the defenceless gathering in Jallianwala Bagh in Amristsar on the 13th of April 1919. The large crowd, bottled up inside the enclosed Bagh, with the only exit blocked by Dyer’s soldiers, had no way of escaping from the relentless fusillade. Hundreds were shot dead, many were trampled underfoot in the stampede, others jumped into an old well to escape and died. The massacre at Amritsar roused the conscience of the country. If forced the Congress to give up its conciliatory policy of adopting only constitutional means to oppose the British.
It also turned Maan Singh the bandit into Maan Singh the patriot and revolutionary.
