f Brahmans, castes, aid prejudices, and were to
be our fellow-travelers and visit with us the annual fair at the temple
festivities of Karli, stopping on the way at Mataran and Khanduli.
One was a Brahman from Poona, the second a moodeliar (landowner)
from Madras, the third a Singalese from Kegalla, the fourth a Bengali
Zemindar, and the fifth a gigantic Rajput, whom we had known for a long
time by the name of Gulab-Lal-Sing, and had called simply Gulab-Sing. I
shall dwell upon his personality more than on any of the others, because
the most wonderful and diverse stories were in circulation about this
strange man. It was asserted that he belonged to the sect of Raj-Yogis,
and was an initiate of the mysteries of magic, alchemy, and various
other occult sciences of India. He was rich and independent, and rumour
did not dare to suspect him of deception, the more so because, though
quite full of these sciences, he never uttered a word about them in
public, and carefully concealed his knowledge from all except a few
friends.

He was an independent Takur from Rajistan, a province the name of which
means the land of kings. Takurs are, almost without exception, descended
from the Surya (sun), and are accordingly called Suryavansa. They are
prouder than any other nation in the world. They have a proverb, "The
dirt of the earth cannot stick to the rays of the sun." They do not
despise any sect, except the Brahmans, and honor only the bards who sing
their military achievements. Of the latter Colonel Tod writes somewhat
as follows,* "The magnificence and luxury of the Rajput courts in the
early periods of history were truly wonderful, even when due allowance
is made for the poetical license of the bards. From the earliest times
Northern India was a wealthy country, and it was precisely here that
was situated the richest satrapy of Darius. At all events, this country
abounded in those most striking events which furnish history with her
richest materials. In Rajistan every small kingdom had its Thermopylae,
and every little town has produced its Leonidas. But the veil of the
centuries hides from posterity events that the pen of the historian
might have bequeathed to the everlasting admiration of the nations.
Somnath might have appeared as a rival of Delphi, the treasures of Hind
might outweigh the riches of the King of Lydia, while compared with the
army of the brothers Pandu, that of Xerxes would seem an inconsiderable
handful of me