Rao Bijender Singh, a smart and handsome person in his
mid-fifties with an aura of royalty is a direct descent of the family of
erstwhile rulers of the State of Rewari in Haryana. It was, in fact, a Jagir,
bestowed upon Rao Shahbaaj by the later Mughal Emperor of Delhi. Bijender lives in ‘Rani
ki Deodhi’, the old Indian traditional style mansion in ‘Katla’ situated
in one of the oldest sectors of the town of Rewari. Katla is a purely
Hindustani word and its etymology suggests that it was coined during the
Islamic rule and literally means a huge mansion with quarters for officers,
servants and the stable with all the paraphernalia including spaces for the
temporary market. It was a gated structure and entrance to the main edifice
used to be restricted in old days. However, as the old structure built from
undressed stone fixed in lime mortar began to show signs of ageing and decay,
Rao Bijender modified it from time to time retaining only the grand façade that
reminds one of the grandeur gone by. He has a sort of his own ‘Mehfil’
adorned by a Hookah and several old and young persons to give him company while
he puffs the device several times a day. From his appearance he doesn’t seems to
be addicted to the tobacco but apparently accompanies the guests, as courtesy,
and usually offers tea that his trusted Chaiwallah (his name is Sunil) serves
in ‘kulhars’ to every new comer. This is repeated several times during
the day. His ‘Baithak’ is in one of the vaulted chambers of the old
remains of the ‘Deodhi’ that opens into a spacious, open to sky, courtyard.
The Southern sides of the ‘Deodhi’, the vaulted chambers have been
converted into shops in front of which is a big chowk in which the
vendors creep with their hand-carts and the traders keep the merchandize in a
comfortable confusion hindering the free flow of traffic. Beyond that is the
street, now fully converted into a bazaar.
I now don’t recall how my first encounter with Rao Bijender
Singh had occurred but could feebly remember that someone had referred to him
while I was on a tour to the town to document the old monuments and vestiges of
the era gone by, sometime in the late 1990s. It is now more than a twenty
year’s journey in life since we met and continued the association. I never found
him lacking in a warm welcome to me but if I happened to take an immediate
leave from his Baithak after sipping a Kulhar of tea and making a
few puffs of the Hookah, he displayed a feeling of remorse. I usually honored
is display of affection and managed to console him. There were occasions when
he made me stay with him in the Deodhi and I never noticed his interest
waning in hospitality or subject of my interest.
His scholarly interests in the history of Rewari came as a
slow revelation to me, which I regularly appreciated. In the beginning I had
taken him only as a Khandani person who, in all due courtesy, could do
the best for his guests, even though they were uninvited. In the earlier days,
the mobile connectivity with persons was not available and we could meet only
if I suddenly dropped in Rani ki Deodhi but nowadays I take due precaution to
inform him about my arrival and the purpose. Also, if I wished to stay, he
would welcome the gesture.
In due course of time, I realized the significance of his
friendship as he is person of immense influence in the whole of the Ahirwal and
possesses substantial knowledge about the old village estates of the district
as well as its built heritage. He has a keen interest in the political
developments of his district but shun active participation after initial
hiccups with Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav who abruptly ditched him without caring for
his noble status. Neither he nor his ancestors were ever feudal in nature but
did many acts of benevolence. He has all the usual characteristics of the nobility
but complains that the historians have not only distorted the content in the
history of Rewari but also deliberately neglected the legacy of his
forefathers. He appreciates the British who faithfully acknowledged the
supremacy of his ancestors but condemns the usurpers who have lately become
politically dominated and were in limelight ever since the rise of Rao Virender
Singh, who was once the Chief Executive of the State of Haryana. A well-known
historian of Haryana has not only shown total negligence in making mentions of
the role of his ancestors and the Rani ki Deodhi, the seat of power in
those days, but also acknowledged praise for the vassals of his family in an
unprecedented manner. For this historian, appeasing those in power for personal
gain was more important that the principles of historiography. However, a
legend hung on the wall of the newly refurbished drawing room in the Rani ki
Deodhi tells a true account of the lineage of the Jagirdars of Rewari in whose
name the actual ‘Patta’ was sanctioned by one of the later Moghuls Monarchs of
Delhi. Besides, the display of photographs of only the first person in the
lineage of the erstwhile State have been attractively hung on another wall,
which depicts the true character of the kind of personalities that held charge
of affairs in the medieval times. The family is said to have migrated sometime
in mid-eighteenth century from Behali, an old village estate of prominence
among Ahirs.
The name of Rao Bijender Singh first came to be heard from a
local person while I was inspecting a few old cenotaphs of an unusual
architecture –not noticed in Haryana, located behind the Church on the southern
side of an equally old masonry tank. I had resolved to see the young Rao (He
might be then in his early thirties) and gather suitable information from him
about the memorial edifices and the tank. It was not a difficult task to locate
Rani ki Deodhi as the people guided me to go through the Kanod Gate,
drive for a minute and by taking a right turn could enter into an arched
gateway. After preliminary introduction, he had carefully listened to my
queries and patiently and accurately answered all. I jotted down notes and used
to occasionally confirm the pieces of history as told by him. Now, after a gap
of about 17 years, I can designate him as a fine oral historian as his version
and accounts about the old episodes and records always turned out true. Later,
I discovered that he was in possession of copies of several significant records
obtained from the settlement reports, district gazetteers and other sources of
history including the history of Ahirwal authored and printed by Col. Ram
Singh. I had to borrow this important document of subaltern history from him
for jotting down various details about the Ahirs, their political history and
how they became an organized military force to be reckoned by the later Moghuls
until the British eliminated them in 1957 during which they unleashed the units
of the British infantry and the artillery to crush them and capture Rao Tula Ram,
the ‘rebel’ leader. They could not succeeded in capturing the later but had a
decisive battle fought in the plains surrounded of boulders and small hillocks
near Nasibpur. The whole story is documented in the district gazetteer of
Gurgaon published in 1910.
In these years, I have had more than a dozen occasions to
meet Rao Bijender Singh an occasionally stayed at Rani ki Deodhi to gather more
information about the family, the town and the built heritage in the villages
of the district. So far, he guidance has been worthy of appreciation as he
neither faltered nor been inaccurate. With his enthusiasm, I could recently
discover a mid-eighteenth century monument hidden within the precincts of the
old sector of Rewari and felt awed at the sight of the massive building. With
his backup I could also discover several fine monuments and art-heritage of the
district of Rewari. It is in the form of the oldest and finest frescoes done in
ochre on subject ranging from Indian pantheon –mythology, life and times of Lord
Krishna based on Geet Gobind by Jaideva, and several legendary characters
including scenes from local village life. The sketching is impressive as the
line-work and shading is suggestive of Dhoondhaar style i.e. prevalent in the
Jaipur State of yore. These frescoes are historically significant as no
reporting about them has ever been done by art-historian previous to this
author.
The Rewari town itself can boast of several monuments
depicting various forms of architecture and artistic embellishment in addition
to masonry structures related to storage and management of runoff rain water.
Rewari is located in southern Haryana’s semi-arid region and scarcity of water
often hits people. As and when the summer rains or the Monsoon failed the life
of the people and cattle could be in danger. Thousands of masonry wells dotting
the agricultural fields and human habitations were the only reliable source of
obtaining potable water and irrigating the fields during the rabi crop season.
Occasionally, the Sahibi River could also inundate the whole town and
surrounding villages but brought immense benefits in the wake as it spread new
soil and brought water to the parched fields which were a boon for winter
crops.
Rao Bijender has the potential to provide social leadership
to the people of the region with all aura of the family behind him as displayed
on certain occasions when he saved the Kanod Gate from encroachment and
organized several awareness campaigns to save the built heritage of Rewari. It
is regrettable that the local chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and
Cultural Heritage (INTACH) does not involve him in the mission and is virtually
ineffective, so far, in either documenting the built heritage of the district
or preparing a plan for conservation of the dilapidated or withered and fatigued monuments.
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