Malwa

“ The earliest name of the tract seems to have been Avanti, from its capital the modern Ujjain. The position of the Malwa or Moholo mentioned by Hsuan Tsang (7th century) is plausibly assigned to Gujarat. The first records of a local dynasty are those of the Paramaras, a famous Rajput clan, who ruled for about four centuries (800-1200) , with their capital at Ujjain and afterwards at Dhar. The Mahommedans invaded Malwa in 1235; and in 1401 Dilawar Khan Ghori founded an independent kingdom, which lasted till 1531. ”

“ Opium cultivation in Western Malwa is carried on entirely by the subjects of the native princes who rule in this part of India. The seasons in Malwa are three, the hot, the rainy, and the cold; the hot prevailing from the middle of March to the middle of June, the rainy from the middle of June to the end of September, and the cold from that onwards to the middle of March. The average rainfall is about thirty inches, and the extremes of heat and cold experienced in Northern India are wanting in this region. The soil is of the cotton variety, resting on disintegrating trap rock. ”

“ The services of Sikandar Bēgam in the Mutiny are well known. Mālwa is the country lying between Bundēlkhand, on the east, and Rājputāna, on the west, and includes Bhopāl. Most of the states in this region are now ruled by Hindoos, but the local dynasty which ruled the kingdom of Mālwa and Māndū from A.D. 1401 to 1531 was Musalmān. (See Thomas, Chronicles of the Pathan Kings of Dehli, pp. 346-53.)
5. All near relatives succeed to a Muhammadan's estate, which is divided, under complicated rules, into the necessary number of shares. A son's share is double that of a daughter. ”

“ In Malwa, on the other hand, the earlier tradition seems to have undergone a new resuscitation. Following various wars in Middle India, the former Muslim kingdom had been divided into fiefs—some being awarded to Rajput nobles of loyalty and valour. The result was yet another style of painting—comparable in certain ways to that of Bundi and Udaipur yet markedly original in its total effect. ”

“ MANDU IN MALWA
Late in the evening of the same day that he had left the height, Oman appeared at the door of Poussa’s hut; and found that the years had changed it little. Poussa, now a woman of some authority in the village, though she was not yet thirty, received him with joyful acclaim, and with a reverence that she gave neither to the head-man nor to the priest of her community. She feasted him on rice and curry, millet bread, dried fruits, and sweetmeats, and gave him to drink out of a jar of mellow (not too precious) wine. They ate alone, he and she ”

“ In the south, some bands of Aryan settlers must have worked their way up the valley of the Chambal and become acquainted with the aboriginal tribes inhabiting the country now known as Malwa. We note, however, that the kingdoms in this direction were already called Bhoja, which was in later times the name of the same region, lying immediately to the north of the Vindhya chain and along the valley of the Chambal. ”

“ As this was not sufficient evidence even, the question was addressed to the Soudanese, and his comrade Sururu stepped out and described the circumstance that a native had tried to prevent him taking a pot of malwa, whereupon, calling him Abid and Kelb—slave and dog—he shot him dead, and fired three or four times at others indiscriminately.
“The man is yours—you can take him; but if you will sell him for cattle, cloth, wire, beads, or anything else, I will buy him.”
“No, no, no, no; we don’t sell our people; not for a hundred cattle would we part with him.” ”

“ Mâlwa was the next emprise, and though its Afghân governor effected his own personal escape by means of a rescue party from Rohilkand summoned by his wife, who sent her veil as a challenge to her brethren's honour, the whole rich province fell into Mahratta hands. The Râjah of Bundulkhund, alarmed, acceded to Bâji-Rao's demands, and Jâi-Singh of Ambêr, hastily summoned by the Moghuls to defend their cause, after a futile and half-hearted resistance, also yielded. ”

“ At last Râjahansa was victorious, the enemy was completely defeated, their king taken prisoner, and all Mâlwa lay open to the conqueror. He, however, having no wish to enlarge his dominions, released his prisoner on very easy terms, and returning to Pushpapuri, thought only of governing his own kingdom in peace, not expecting after such generous treatment any further trouble from his ambitious neighbour.
Though prosperous and happy in every other respect, the King of Magadha had one great cause of sorrow and anxiety—he had no son to succeed him. ”

“ The king’s spirit of peace steeped the land, which, like its ruler, after thirty years of fighting yearned for rest. For fourteen years neither inward malcontent nor foreign foe broke the quiet. In a.d. 1482 Bahlol Lodi advanced from Dehli to subdue Málwa. The talk of Mándu was Bahlol’s approach, but no whisper of it passed into the charmed City of Women. At last the son-minister forced his way into the king’s presence. At the news of pressing danger his soldier-spirit awoke in Ghiás-ud-dín. ”

“ They are said to have been invited here by the Gond kings of Kherla in Betūl six or more centuries ago, and are probably of impure descent. Mālwa is north of the Nerbudda, and they should therefore properly belong to the Pānch-Gaur division, but they speak Marāthi and their customs resemble those of Marātha Brāhmans, who will take food cooked without water from them. The Mālwi Brāhmans usually belong to the Madhyandina branch of the Yajurvedi sect. They work as village accountants (patwāris) and village priests, and also cultivate land. ”

“ They continue to hold and till the lands, which they or their fathers then tilled; and the change in them is not so great as that which has taken place within the same time among my old native friends, who survive in the Saugor and Nerbudda districts, where the air is less dry, and the climate less congenial to the human frame. The natives say that the air and water of Malwa may produce as good trees and crops as those of Oude, but can never produce such good soldiers. This, I believe, is quite true. The Sultanpoor district is included in the Banoda division of Oude ”

“ The fire formed of it throws out a most powerful heat, which leaves the people no cause to regret the want of other fuel. The country below that stripe which fringes the river is known by the name of Malwa. It has a dry climate and soil, and produces gram and barley, [5] with bajree [3] and mut, which are exported to the Punjab.
Banks of the Sutlege.
After a journey of fifty miles from Lodiana, we encamped at Huree, on the banks of the Hyphasis, below the confluence of that river and the Sutlege. ”

“ Badjee Rao departed for Hindostan, and Malcolm remained to organise the administration of his kingdom. Before the peishwah had started a mutiny broke out among his Arab followers, which needed prompt suppression. Malcolm established cantonments at Mhow, and began the task of the reclamation of Malwah. His design was to reduce into order those provinces of the late prince of Poonah which had been for two generations a prey to anarchy, and then, unless meantime appointed governor of Bombay, to sail for England at the end of 1819. ”

“ Malwa, 13 Manga, 51; indisposition of, 56; greeted by, 349 Marabout stork, 39 Maranga, arrival at, 51; abundance of food in, 52; departure from, 59; return to, 349; peculiar method of crossing a river of people of, 356 Maragua river, 46; bridge across the, 47; return to the, 358 Maragua bean, 53 Marathwa river, 352 Marazuki, death of, 128 Marisi-al-lugwa-Zambo plateau, 204-245 Marlé tribe, 228 Marsabit, 222 Masai, 242, 338 Materu, camp at, 62 Mau escarpment, 137 M’biri, visit to, 352 M’bu, arrival at, 64; hostility of natives of, 67; an anxious journey, 71; the guides desert, 74 ”

“ Malwal 33⁄4 2853⁄4 Track leaves river within sight of Malwal, then runs through long grass to near Fedwil, then along edge of khor and through bush to Wigin 41⁄8 2897⁄8 Small village 20 yards back from river, with deep swamp between village and bank (dry marsh) , 2 poor shade trees in village. Track gets on to river bank at 291st mile. 11⁄8 291 Good shade trees and thick bush; thick forest right bank 1⁄2 mile inland; end of Nuer country, though all along from Nasser the country is populated with Nuers and Anuaks mixed, Nuers predominating and letting Anuaks live on suffrance. ”

“ Squatting on the sand, with her legs drawn up to her chin, Malva balanced herself gently to and fro, idly gazing with her green eyes over the dazzling joyous sea, and she smiled with triumph as all women do when they understand the power of their beauty. ”

“ The sea gulls halted in their flight and listened.
"Hallo! Hallo!" came back from the boat. It was Malva's sonorous voice.
"Who's with you?"
A laugh replied to him.
"Jade!" swore Vassili under his breath.
He spat on the ground with vexation.
He was puzzled. While he rolled a cigarette he examined the neck and back of the rower who was rapidly drawing nearer. The sound of the water when the oars struck it resounded in the still air, and the sand crunched under the watchman's bare feet as he stamped about in his impatience. ”

“ Or how can you hope to breathe that rarefied air, unfitted for your human lungs?"
"True, my lord," said Babbalanja; "and Bardianna asserts that the plain alone was intended for man; who should be content to dwell under the shade of its groves, though the roots thereof descend into the darkness of the earth. But, my lord, you well know, that there are those in Mardi, who secretly regard all stories connected with this peak, as inventions of the people of Maramma. They deny that any thing is to be gained by making a pilgrimage thereto. ”

“ Robust, able to read, seen the world—but what a drunkard! Yet good company. One can't feel dull in his company. The women are mad for him; all run after him. Malva's the only one that keeps aloof. No, no sign of her! What a cursed woman! Perhaps she's angry because I beat her."
Thus, thinking of his son, of Serejka, but more often of Malva, Vassili paced up and down the sandy beach, turning every now and then to look anxiously out to sea. But Malva did not come.
This is what had happened.
Iakov rose early, and on going down to the beach as usual to wash himself, he saw Malva. ”

“ They would make a good fish soup together, and drink brandy as they chatted and caressed each other. That is how they spent every Sunday and holiday. And at daylight he would row her back over the sea in the sharp morning air. Malva, still nodding with sleep, would hold the tiller and he would watch her as he pulled. She was amusing at those times, funny and charming both, like a cat which had eaten well. Sometimes she would slip from her seat and roll herself up at the bottom of the boat like a ball. ”

“ The small state of Malava, founded by a tribe akin to the Andhras, on the northern side of the Vyndhia hills, had thrown off the yoke of the Magadhas: and Parthian adventurers held sway in the regions near the mouths of the Indus and in Guzerat. In the Deccan, the basins of the Mahanadi, Godaveri and Kistna still formed part of the Magadh empire, the southern boundary of which approached Tamilakam, or the land of the Tamils, in the southern-most portion of the peninsula. ”

“ You are not like other women."
"Thank God!" sighed Malva.
To their left, behind a chain of sandy hills, the moon rose, flooding them with its silvery light. Large and soft it rose slowly in the blue sky, and the sparkling light of the stars paled, and was lost in its mellow, dreamy light.
"You think too much.... That's what's the matter!" said Sereja in a convinced tone of voice, tossing away his cigarette. "And when one thinks, one becomes disgusted with life.... One must be always moving, always in the midst of people ... who must be made to feel that one is really alive. ”

“ In Malabar, there is a class of people called Koravas, who have, from time immemorial, played this game almost in the same manner as its Western devotees do at the present time. These people are met with mostly in the southern parts of Malabar, Cochin and Travancore, and they speak the Malayālam language with a sing-song accent, which easily distinguishes them from other people. They are of wandering habits. The men are clever acrobats and rope-dancers, but those of more settled habits are engaged in agriculture and other industries. ”

“ Yes, I would beat you."
"Yet I'm not your wife," said Malva, calmly. " You have been accustomed to beat your wife for nothing, and you imagine that you can do the same with me. No, I am free. I belong only to myself, and I am afraid of no one. But you are afraid of your son, and now you dare threaten me."
She shook her head with disdain. Her careless manner cooled Vassili's anger. He had never seen her look so beautiful.
"I have something else to tell you," she went on. "You boasted to Serejka that I could no more get along without you than without bread, and that I cannot live without you. ”

“ The sea gulls whirled about over their heads uttering hoarse cries. From the distance came the regular and gentle splash of the tiny waves breaking on the sand.
When, at last, they broke from their long embrace, Malva sat up on Vassili's knee. The peasant's face, tanned by wind and sun, was bent close to hers and his great blond beard tickled her neck. The young woman was motionless; only the gradual and regular rise and fall of her bosom showed her to be alive. Vassili's eyes wandered in turn from the sea to this woman by his side. ”

“ Having taken to our canoes once again, we were silently sailing along, when Media observed, “Babbalanja; though I seldom trouble myself with such thoughts, I have just been thinking, how difficult it must be, for the more ignorant sort of people, to decide upon what particular image to worship as a guardian deity, when in Maramma, it seems, there exists such a multitude of idols, and a thousand more are to be heard of.”
“Not at all, your highness. The more ignorant the better. The multitude of images distracts them not. But I am in no mood for serious discourse ”