November, 1873.] chudAsamA rAs. 313 Nagar T hath A, who was of the SammA tribe. This sister’s son was named RA Gario, and Ram RAja bequeathed to his nephew Ra Gario the kingdom of JunAgadh-Wanthali, and Ra Gario was the first of the ChudAsamA RAs of JunAgadh. Ra Gario collected an army and attacked the Raja of Kanauj, Devgar by name, and after a great battle defeated Devgar and took Kanauj, Devgar fleeing to the banks of the Ganges. The follow¬ ing poetry commemorates this conquest:—
King Devgar was proud and happy as Kal-
Indra in his abode.
Gario RAo of Girnar conquered Kanauj, the
principality of thirty-seven forts,
lie, the exalter of bis family, easily defeated
this happy lord of innumerable forces;
And thus extirpating his enemies, drank the
water of the Eastern Ocean (Jamna or Ganges).
Gario, grandson of Rai Chuda, a descendant of
VairAt, and destroyer of the best of kings,
He having called all kings of that country who
had been deprived of their kingdoms, re¬
placed them on their thrones,
And subjugating the city of Parbatgadh, he
occupied all the eastern country from the
cities of Parbatgadh and Gwalior up to the
banks of the Ganges,
And thus became the lord of horses, elephants,
and men, both of Girnar and Kanauj.
After the subjugation of Kanauj, Ra Gario
took the city of Dohad in MAlwA, and caused
himself to be proclaimed king there. At this
time Ra Gario married a daughter of a Rafchod
Rajput. His descendants by this wife are
called RAnAs, and are still to be found in Malwa.
Kanauj and Dohad being conquered, Ra Gario
returned to JunAgadh, where he reigned till his
death.
The third from RA GArio was RA DyAs, or
Dyachh, as he is also called. His favourite wife
was Sorath Rani. Ra Dyas was filmed for his
munificence, and the bards declare that he gave
away his head in charity to a Charan. This
story is probably invented to conceal or ac¬
count for the conquest of JunAgadh by a king
of Pattan. If Anhilwada Pattan is meant, this
king can have been none other than Wan RAj
Chaura, as Ra Dyas is said to have died in
860-61. The story runs as follows :—
The daughter of the king of Pattan had come
on a visit to Somnath. Ra Dyas saw her, and,
becoming enamoured of her, endeavoured to
compel her to marry him. The king of Pattan,
hearing of this, sent a large army against RA
Dyas and defeated him in the field. RA DyAs,
however, shut himself up in the impregnable
fort of Girnar, and laughed to scorn the efforts
of the Pattan army. The king of Pattan, after
a long siege, despaired of reducing the fort.
Ho was about to return to his own country,
when a Charan named Bijal offered to put him
in possession of the place, on condition of being
given a large reward. The king offered him
an enormous reward, and Bijal agreed to give
him the head of Ra Dyas, and it was agreed
that when the garrison were occupied with
the funeral ceremonies the Pattan army should
attack the fort. The Charan, knowing the
munificent character of the RA, determined to
ask of him his head as a gift, and in his capa¬
city of a Charan easily obtained admission into
the citadel. The night before this plot was
formed, Sorath RAni dreamed that she saw a
headless man. On consulting the astrologers
they told her that her husband would shortly
cut off his head and give it away in alms. As
Sorath RAni had much influence in JunAgadh,
she ordered her husband into captivity and im¬
prisoned him in a bastion until the fated time
should be past. During this time no one was
allowed to have access to him except they who
supplied him with food. The ChAran therefore
went outside the bastion and there began to
chant verses in praise of RA DyAs, and to play
on a musical instrument called a jantra. RA
Dyas hearing him looked out, and, seeing the
Gadvi, threw out of the window a lodh or rope
with a stout stick at the end, on which to sit.
The Gadvi sat on the stick and held the rope
with his hands, and thus RA Dyas drew him up