If this is done, I pledge myself', said
the Raja, 'that the tigers will soon get killed themselves, or cease
from killing men. If they do not, you may be quite sure that they are
not ordinary tigers, but men turned into tigers, or that the Gonds
have appropriated all you gave them to their own use, instead of
applying it to conciliate the spirits of the unfortunate people.'[8]
Notes:
1. Deori, in the Sagar district, about forty miles south-east of
Sagar. In 1767, the town and attached tract called the Panj Mahal
were bestowed by the Peshwa, rent-free, on Dhondo Dattatraya, a
Maratha pundit, ancestor of the author's friend. The Panj Mahal was
finally made part of British territory by the treaty with Sindhia in
1860, and constitutes the District called Panch Mahals in the
Northern Division of the Bombay Presidency. The vernacular word
_panch_ like the Persian _panj_, means 'five'. The title Sarimant
appears to be a popular pronunciation of the Sanskrit _srimant_ or
_sriman_, 'fortunate', and is still used by Maratha nobles.
2. _Ante_, Chapter 16, note 6. The name is here erroneously printed
'Dhamoree' in the author's text.
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