Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: AT OODEYPORE ON THE PlCHOLA LAKE A local guide is supposed to be addressing an Englishman who is in a boat fishing. Rama and Krishna both from Manu came (You call him Noah but in our Purans His name is Vaivaswdta, the Sun-born) Thousands of years before your prophet Christ. The Solar Race from Rama, ancestor To M£war, Marwar, Jeypore, Bikanir; The Lunar, Krishna-born, holds Jesalmere, Bhatti, Jareja, and some other tribes. That is the answer to your question why Upon the ceiling of the Mayo College Where our young Thakurs go to pick up knowledge The Sun and Moon blaze out in heraldry. A golden sun upon a crimson field Is Me"war's banner; and a frequent sign The Peacock everywhere, our bird divine. Our tribes and customs all have been revealed By Tod Sahib—was there ever such a man ? You know we are Sesodia,1 that the scribes Make us the first of six-and-thirty tribes, And that we are the only Rajput clan Who never gave a princess to the line Of Timoor; against which we held our own— Save at Chitor, our capital of old, Of which a separate story shall be told— Since Bappa Rawal founded there his throne And the old dynasty surnamed Gehlote. Tod makes our Bappa A.D. 728,2 And Oodeypore8 from Oodey Singh to date, More than eight centuries later—Akbar's time. Our history is full of deeds sublime, Our land of hills and forests—yes, and lakes Most beautiful to see: the traveller makes Pictures of this on which we are afloat ('Tis named Pichola), and the Lord Sahib said (Lord Lansdowne fished, Sir, from this very boat) He never saw a more enchanting scene : The Duke4 too said so—son, Sir, of the Queen. That's the Maharana's palace. Yes, his rank Is very high; the biggest state may thank Its fortune when it weds with Oodeypore. Our barons t...