He continued to fight, but in vain, as the revenue
contractors were too strong for him. Gholam Hoseyn, the then Nazim,
kept him down while he lived, and Dursun Sing got him into his power
by fraud, and confined him for three years in gaol.
He died soon after his release, leaving one son. Rajah Dheer Sing,*
who still lives upon the portion of land which his father inherited.
He has taken up the contest for the right bequeathed to him by his
father; and his uncle, Golab Sing, the younger brother of Seorutun, a
brave, shrewd, and energetic man, has been for some days importuning
me for assistance. The nearest relations of the family told me
yesterday, that they were coerced by the Government authorities into
recognising the adoption of the present Rajah, though it was contrary
to all Hindoo law and usage. Hindoos, they said, never marry into the
same gote or family, and they never ought to adopt one of the
relations of their wives, or a son of a sister, or any descendant in
the female line, while there is one of the male line existing.
Seoruttun Sing was the next heir in the male line; but the Rajah,
having married a young girl in his old age, adopted as his heir to
the principality her nearest relative, the present Rajah, who is of a
different _gote_. The desire to keep the land in the same family has
given rise to singular laws and usages in all nations in the early
stages of civilization, when industry is confined almost exclusively
to agriculture, and land is almost the only property valued.
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