Driving down from Mumbai, we finally reached Rajasthan, the maru kantar (region of death) alluded to in the Mahabharata. But the arid plateau in southwestern Rajasthan also had cliffs, atop some of which are fortresses. Like Chittorgarh, our first stop, where a friend Puran Mal, a landowning jagirdar, was to host us.

In the courtyard of his haveli, he had his hookah lit at sundown and amidst its acrid smoke we listened to his stories of the region’s past. Thousands of Rajput warriors lost their lives performing the jauhar. Three times Chittorgarh’s men rode out to their martyrdom, while the women and children consigned themselves to the flames.

He showed us the jaya stambha and the area where the ranas used to be cremated when Chittorgarh was Mewar’s capital. Puran Mal was himself connected with the Mewar ranas. He then told us a story that goes back 600 years. When Mewar’s king, Rana Lakha, had settled the marriage of his eldest son Chondaji, the heir apparent, with the daughter of a neighbouring raja, an ambassador from the girl’s side brought the ceremonial coconut as a symbol of the engagement. The elderly rana received the ambassador with due courtesy. But the prospective groom, Prince Chondaji, was late by a few minutes. The rana, twirling his grey moustache, joked: “This plaything (the coconut) is not for an old greybeard like me, is it?” His entire durbar laughed with him. But Prince Chondaji was not amused. Taking offence, he refused to accept the coconut as a symbol of engagement, and walked away. A piquant situation arose: returning the coconut would mean insulting the prospective royal bride’s father, and a possible war. But the prince remained stubborn. A slanging match of prince and king took place before the full durbar.

... contd.