Guerchard

“ He was the famous Chief-Inspector Guerchard, head of the Detective Department of the Prefecture of Police, and sworn foe of Arsène Lupin.
The policeman at the door of the drawing-room saluted him briskly. He was a fine, upstanding, red-faced young fellow, adorned by a rich black moustache of extraordinary fierceness.
"Shall I go and inform M. Formery that you have come, M. Guerchard?" he said.
"No, no; there's no need to take the trouble," said Guerchard in a gentle, rather husky voice. "Don't bother any one about me—I'm of no importance."
"Oh, come, M. Guerchard," protested the policeman. ”

“ When Guerchard joined the Duke in the drawing-room, he had lost his calm air and was looking more than a little nervous. He moved about the room uneasily, fingering the bric-a-brac, glancing at the Duke and looking quickly away from him again. Then he came to a standstill on the hearth-rug with his back to the fireplace.
“Do you think it’s quite safe to stand there, at least with your back to the hearth? If Lupin dropped through that opening suddenly, he’d catch you from behind before you could wink twice,” said the Duke, in a tone of remonstrance. ”

“ Gujars.The name Gujarát is from the Prákrit Gujjara-ratta, the Sanskrit of which is Gurjjara-ráshtra that is the country of the Gujjaras or Gurjjaras. In Sanskrit books and inscriptions the name of the province is written Gurjjara-maṇḍala and Gūrjjara-deśa the land of the Gurjjaras or Gúrjjaras. The Gurjjaras are a foreign tribe who passing into India from the north-west gradually spread as far south as Khándesh and Bombay Gujarát. The present Gujars of the Panjáb and North-West Provinces preserve more of their foreign traits than the Gujar settlers further to the south and east. ”

“ This country is about 5000 li in circuit, the capital, which is called Pi-lo-mo-lo, is 30 li or so round. The produce of the soil and the manners of the people resemble those of Sauráshṭra. The king is of the Kshatriya caste. He is just twenty years old.’4 Hiuen Tsiang’s Kiu-che-lo is apparently Gurjjara, the capital of which Pi-lo-mo-lo is probably Bhilmál or Bhinmál better known as Śrimál.5 Though Hiuen Tsiang calls the king a Kshatriya he was probably a Gujar who like the later Southern Gujars claimed to be of the Kshatriya race. ”

“ Gurth the reeve helped them, but he was ailing already with the sickness, and not much use.
Grimhild, a strong-faced, huge woman, managed all the house, but Gudrid helped her now willingly. There were no maids there. In the evenings they sat by the fire and told tales. It was as merry as might be, and with Thorstan Black there was always some fun to be had. He was the lightest-hearted man and the happiest whom Gudrid had seen in Greenland, where mostly, it seemed, men had to fight with life at too long odds to have any heart left over for pastime. ”

“ In a letter to his eldest son Muhammad Muâzzam then (a.d. 1704) viceroy of Gujarát the aged Aurangzíb writes: My son of exalted rank, the town of Dohad, one of the dependencies of Gujarát, is the birth-place of this sinner. Please to consider a regard for the inhabitants of that town incumbent on you, and continue in office its decrepid old Faujdár. In regard to that old man listen not to the whisperings of those suffering from the disease of self-interest: “Verily they have a sickness in their hearts and Allah addeth to their ailments.” ”

“ The king of Jurz maintained a large force: his cavalry was the best in India. He was unfriendly to the Arabs. His territories were very rich and abounded in horses and camels. In his realms exchanges were carried on in silver and gold dust of which metals mines were said to be worked.
The king of Jurz was at war with the Balháras as well as with the neighbouring kingdom of Táfak or the Panjáb. The details given under Bhínmál page 468 show that Sulaimán’s tongue of land, by which he apparently meant either Káthiáváḍ or Gujarát was an imperfect idea of the extent of Gurjjara rule. ”

“ Fidá-ud-dín Khán had set out to collect tribute, when news arrived that Khanderáv Gáikwár, brother of Dámáji, had crossed the Mahi and joining Rangoji had laid siege to Petlád. On hearing this, Fidá-ud-dín at once returned to Áhmedábád, and sent Valabhdás Kotwál to Khanderáv to complain of the misconduct of Rangoji.
Abdúl Ázíz Khán of Junnar, Viceroy (by a forged order) .After the death of Momín Khán, Jawán Mard Khán Bábi was the greatest noble in Gujarát. He began to aspire to power, and Fidá-ud-dín, who was not good in the field, had thoughts of appointing him as a deputy. ”

“ The Maráthás did much mischief, plundering as far as Batva, only four-and-a-half miles from the viceroy’s camp. The author of the Mirăt-i-Áhmedi, whose father was an actor in these scenes, describes the panic in the capital of Gujarát which since its capture by Muzaffar in a.d. 1583 had been free from the horrors of war. Crowds of scared and terror-stricken men, women and children laden with as much of their property as they could carry were pressing from the suburbs into the city. In the city the streets were crowded with squatters. ”

“ If your officers follow the principles laid down by the late Shujáât Khán, it will be well. If they do not, the province of Gujarát is such that if order is broken in one or two places, it will not soon be restored. For the rest you are your own master. I say not, do this or do that; look that the end is good, and do that which is easiest. In another passage (Letter 37 to the same prince Aâzam) Aurangzíb writes: You who are a well intentioned man, why do you not retaliate on oppressors? ”

“ Gudrid shed tears at the parting with old Eric Red, knowing that she would never see him again. "Farewell, sweetheart," he said to her; "you leave this world the better for having had you in it." He rode his old white pony down to the quay, and sat there watching the ships go out with the tide. His red cloak was the last she saw of the haven.
The voyage was smooth, with a fair wind all the way. First they went round to the West Settlement, and Gudrid looked out for Lucefrith where her darkest days had also been her brightest. ”

“ Guaire, the Helper of the Poor For if Guaire was not a saint, he was well worthy to be the brother and the kinsman of saints, and they would never have been in poverty if he had his way. And he gave alms till his right arm grew to be longer than the left, with the dint of stretching it out to the poor. He was beaten in battle one time by Diarmuid Ruanaidh, and he had to make his submission, lying stretched on the ground, and having the point of Diarmuid's sword beneath his teeth. ”

“ He was overtaking Durgádás when Durgádás’ grandson praying his grandfather to make good his escape, stayed behind with a band of followers, charged the pursuers, and after a gallant combat, he and his Rájputs were slain. The grandson of Durgádás was killed in a hand-to-hand fight with Salábat Khán, the son of Safdar Khán Bábi. Emerald rings are to this day worn by youths of the Bábi families of North Gujarát in memory of the emerald earrings which adorned the young Rájput and were afterwards worn by Salábat as trophies of this fight. ”

“ Prince Aâzam at once went to Burhánpur in Khándesh, handing charge of Gujarát to the minister Abdúl Hamíd Khán until the new viceroy should arrive. Durgádás Ráthoḍ now asked for and received pardon. Abdúl Hamíd Khán was ordered to restore the lands formerly granted to Durgádás, and Durgádás was directed to act under Abdúl Hamíd’s orders. In a.d. 1705 the emperor learned that Khánji, a successor of Kutb the high priest of the Ismáîlia Bohorás, had sent out twelve missionaries to win people to his faith, and that his followers had subscribed Rs. ”

“ Thorstan Black owned to it. "There is no people but ours of Iceland, I do believe, who would hold out against this white death," he said. "So fast as we come we die of it. Then come others, and so the game goes on. It is the fighting we love; we were always fighters—what with horses, or our young men. But here we fight with the earth, sea and sky, and do little slaughter of our own kind."
"It is the fog that kills us," said Grimhild; and Gurth smothered his cough and hugged himself over the fire.
Gudrid said: "Why should you stay here? I think it is a terrible country. ”

“ One gentleman in Newport, not desiring to receive the count's visit, and knowing that he would not be safe anywhere in his own house, took refuge in the loft of his barn and drew the ladder up after him.
And yet Adam Gurowski was a true-hearted man, loyal to every good cause and devoted to his few friends. His life continued to the last to be a very checkered one. When the civil war broke out, his disapprobation of men and measures took expression in vehement and indignant protest against what appeared to him a willful mismanagement of public business. ”

“ The Gujarát king next besieged Mándu and Medáni Rái summoned the Chitor Rána to his aid. Capture of Mándu, 1518.When the Rána had reached Sárangpur, Muzaffar Sháh detaching a force caused the Rána to retire, while the Gujarát soldiers exerted themselves so strenuously that they captured Mándu, recovering the girdle which Kutb-ud-dín had lost at the battle of Kapadvanj. This conquest virtually placed Málwa in Muzaffar’s power, but he honourably restored the kingdom to Sultán Mahmúd Khilji, and, withdrawing to Gujarát, proceeded to Muhammadábád. ”

“ Then the beggar came back to Guaire, complaining and telling how the pin was taken from him. And there was pity in Guaire's heart and he gave him his belt that had on it golden ornaments, and that was all he had left to him of riches, and the beggar went away, and Diarmuid's people followed him the second time and took away the belt and gave it to Diarmuid. Then the beggar came back with his story to Guaire where he was lying, having the sword between his teeth yet. And when King Guaire saw the poor man so sorrowful, great tears went rolling down his cheeks. ”

“ A dispute was raging in the smoking-room, between Unionists on one side and Copperheads on the other, as to the comparative character of the North and South. Gurowski, who was reading in an adjoining room, was attracted by the noise, and came in, but at first said nothing, standing in silence on the outside of the circle. At last a South-Carolinian who was present appealed to him, saying, "Count, you have been in the South, let us have your opinion; you at least ought to be impartial." ”

“ The Gurjjaras apparently entered India in the fifth century a.d. The earliest notice of them occurs in the Śrí Harshacharita, a work of the early seventh century, in which during the early years of the seventh century Prabhákaravardhana the father of Śrí Harsha of Magadha (a.d. 606–641) is said to have conquered the king of Gandhára, the Húṇas, the king of Sindh, the Gurjjaras, the Láṭas, and the king of Málava.36 The date of their settlement at Bhinmál is unknown, but as their king was recognised as a Kshatriya in Hiuen Tsiang’s time (c. 640 a.d.) ”

“ Mubárak Sháh of Khándesh, considering this a good opportunity, preferred a claim to the crown and marched to the frontier. An army led by the chief Gujarát nobles and accompanied by the young king met the invaders at the village of Ránpur Kotriá in Broach, the Gujarát army encamping on the north bank and the Khándesh army on the south bank of the Narbada. Násir-ul-Mulk, one of the Gujarát nobles, taking certain of his friends into his confidence, determined to remain neutral till the battle was over and then to fall on the exhausted troops and possess himself of both kingdoms. ”

“ Mahárája Abheysingh Fifty-third Viceroy, 1730–1733. with the Nizám under the terms of which the grants of Dholka, Broach, Jambusar, and Makbúlábád were continued to the Nizám. Momín Khán received the farm of Petlád, and Kántáji was confirmed in the share he had acquired of the revenues of Gujarát. In a.d. 1732 the paymaster, Amánatdár Khán, died, and was succeeded by Ghulám Hasan Khán, who sent Mujáhid-ud-dín Khán to act as his deputy. Through the influence of Mulla Muhammad Ali, Sohráb Áli was now confirmed as governor of Surat, and Mustafíd Khán was obliged to return to Áhmedábád. ”

“ The conquest of Ghughula is said to have spread Víradhavala’s power to the borders of Maháráshtra.21 The chroniclers relate another success of Víradhavala’s against Muizz-ud-dín apparently the famous Muhammad Gori Sultán Muizz-ud-dín Bahramsháh, the Sultán of Delhi (a.d. 1191–1205) 22 who led an expedition against Gujarát. The chief of Ábu was instructed to let the Musalmán force march south unmolested and when they were through to close the defiles against their return. The Gujarát army met the Musalmáns and the Ábu troops hung on their rear. ”

“ The ordinary Gurjjara they say is the same as the Rehbári; the Bad or High Gujjars to whom Kṛishṇa belonged are Rájputs. The bards further say that the Sompuras who live near Poshkar (Pokarn north of Ajmír) and are the best builders who alone know the names of all ornamental patterns are of Gurjjara descent and of Shrimál origin. They do not admit that the Chávaḍás were Gurjjarás. In their opinion Chávaḍás are the same as Bhárods and came north into Márwár from Dánta in Jháláváḍa in north-east Káthiáváḍa. ”

“ The origin of the modern Rájput races has always been one of the puzzles of Indian history. This suggestion seems to offer at least a partial solution.
The Rádhanpur grant (a.d. 807–8) further states that when the Gurjjara saw Govinda III. approaching, he fled in fear to some unknown hiding-place. This probably means no more than that Vatsarája did not oppose Govinda in his march to the Vindhyas. The next reference is in the Baroda grant of Karka II. of Gujarát who boasts that his father Indra (c. 810 a.d.) alone caused the leader of the Gurjjara lords to flee. ”