e hundred thousand swords which the Rathors boasted that they
could muster. [563] On another occasion, when Jahangir successfully
appealed to the Rajputs for support against his rebel son Khusru,
he was so pleased with the zeal of the Rathor prince, Raja Gaj Singh,
that he not only took the latter's hand, but kissed it, [564] perhaps
an unprecedented honour. But the constant absence from his home on
service in distant parts of the empire was so distasteful to Raja Sur
Singh that, when dying in the Deccan, he ordered a pillar to be erected
on his grave containing his curse upon any of his race who should
cross the Nerbudda. The pomp of imperial greatness or the sunshine of
court favour was as nothing with the Rathor chiefs, Colonel Tod says,
when weighed against the exercise of their influence within their own
cherished patrimony. The simple fare of the desert was dearer to the
Rathor than all the luxuries of the imperial banquet, which he turned
from in disgust to the recollection of the green pulse of Mundore,
or his favourite _rabi_ or maize porridge, the prime dish of the
Rathor. [565] The Rathor princes have been not less ready in placing
themselves and the forces of their States at the disposal of the
British Government, and the latest and perhaps most brilliant example
of their loyalty occurred during 1914, when the veteran Sir Partap
Singh of Idar insisted on proceeding to the front against Germany,
though over seventy years of age, and was accompanied by his nephew,
a boy of sixteen.

The Ratlam State was founded by Ratan Singh, a grandson of Raja
Udai Singh of Jodhpur, who was born about 1618, and obtained it
as a grant for good service against the Usbegs at Kandahar and the
Persians in Khorasan about 1651-52. Kishangarh was founded by Kishan
Singh, a son of the same Raja Udai Singh, who obtained a grant of
territory from Akbar about 1611. Idar State in Gujarat has, according
to its traditions, been held by Rathor princes from a very early
period. Jodhpur State is the largest in Rajputana, with an area of
35,000 square miles, and a population of two million. The Maharaja
is entitled to a salute of twenty-one guns. A great part of the
State is a sandy desert, and its older name of Marwar is, according
to Colonel Tod, a corruption of Marusthan, or the region of death. In
the Central Provinces the Rathor Rajputs number about 6000 persons, and
are found mainly in the Saugor, Jubbulpore, Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad