A Visit to the Raja.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 139, 13 June 1891, Page 3 (Supplement)

A Visit to the Raja.

Though the senior branch of the great Sivaji's descendants are ab present more pensioners ot the British Governmenb ab Sahara, yeb bhey preserve all tho old family traditions and relics of the past, of interest to a stranger, and a visit to the Raja was arranged by the Collector.

We drive up behind the palaco to the Raja's residence, through a gateway thronged with retainers of the "old, faithful, and shabby " description, into a long courtyard. At the end stands the recep-tion-room, scarified by the reeenb addition of an incongruous iron roof. Here w r e are received in the Western style of handshaking by the Raja, the luckless son adoptive, a large, well-built man, ot courtly manners, but whose features betray his great failing—drunkenness. His costume is thab affected by nobility in India—silk breeches and stockings, and shoes, showing under the flowing, upper garment. The eldesb son, a shorb, thickset young man, of inbelligent countenance, who also welcomes us, is dressed in a suib of European clothes of fashionable cub, with a pink Maratha turban," shaped as near as possible to cur straw hat. He has nob received a Western education, and neither father nor son speaks English. The mistake has been avoided in bhe case of a younger son, who, on bhe Collector's advice, has been sent bo the Kolhapur College. We enter the room, preceded by the boarer of the Collectorate Silver Rod, who, in a new cardinal cassock, outshines the Raja's decrepit and shabby official. The Raja motions us to be seated, and, while the Collector engages him in a Marabhi conversation, we look around. The room is furnished with European sofas and chairs, and richly ornamented with mirrors and gilding, a touch of that tawdriness showing which so often appears when one civilisation affects tho usages of a higher, without acquiring therewith the accompanying good taste. At tho end of the apartment, in a recess, stands _ a shrine of tho goddess Bhawani, a favourite deity of the " mountain rat," with tall lamps lighting up the quaint Hindu image. Bub now is to come the historical treab. Ab bhe requesb of bhe Coliecbor, bhe Rajaord .rs his chamberlain, a Brahmin who speaks J English, bo bring forbh bhe treasured raemontoes of his greab ance3bor. We firsb examine Sivaji's long coab of mail and head piece, bobh thickly padded, and silk-lined, and so heavy as to denote their wearer a man of exceptional strength ; indeed, it is hard to understand how any man could bear such a weighb in bhe hob climate withoub being half-smobhered. The sword, a long, beaubiful blade, bears bhe impress of a Genoese armourer; the hilt, like thab of all Maratha swords, is oxbromely small, proportionate to the hands of the users, and to an average European would be almost useless on thab account. The lasb, and perhaps bhe mosb cherished of bhe relics, are bhe celebrated " claws " with which Savaji murdered Afzul Khan. They are steel hooks shaped like tigers' claws, fibbing under bhe fingers, to which they are held by two rings—essentially a weapon of treachery. The Sultan cf Bijapur had sent an army under Afzul to crush the Maratha freebooter among the fastnesses of Mahableshwar. The General, before commencing final operations, sent an envoy to offer Sivaji terms. This man, a Brahmin, was quite won over by the Maratha's glowing pictures of the triumph of Hinduism over the Moslem, and the raising once more of a Hindu Empire over the land. The Brahmin promised to arrange a solitary meeting between bhe two commanders for the ensuing day, and the Bijapur general walked unsuspectingly into the trap. Under pretence of friendly salutation, Sivaji disembowelled the unfortunate Afzul with the terrible concealed claws, and a dagger finished the work. This atrocious piece of treachery is unworthy of a land whose ancienb songs recounb many a deed of true chivalry. Yeb the Marathas never seem to have regarded the deed but in a spirit of glorification, as the numerous lays recording it show forth. And here in our hands lies this identical, cruel little instrument, .Inning in its carefully polished state. We then cross bhe garden, wibh ibs clumps of graceful cocoanub palms and well - stocked fish tank, and ascending a dark narrow stair, enter some of the upper apartments of the picturesquely painted villa. Here the chief object of interest is an apartment completely mirrored, ceiling and walls, while in the middle stands a bed of quaint design, richly painted in red and gold. 'Tis a room that could bell tales of the old days. We are nexb shown inbo a sorb of dilapidabed picbure gallery, the various pictures being framed into the walls. Some of them are old-fashioned French lithographs, others native, the subjects being mostly western belles or eastern houris. Tho Raja draws our attention with some pride to adingy portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte. These pictures were probably acquired by a former generation, at the time when the French were a power in India. There was nob a single painting among them, and if there had been, ib would probably nob have been so much appreciated as a gaudier lithograph. After some more conversation in Hindustani, th 6 young Raja making himself very agreeable to the ladies, we make our salaams. The Raja presents us each with a little bouquet done up on a small stick and a bevel nut quid, and we drive away again through the throng of retainers.