Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-09
The NAMES or INDIA
They Are Spelled in a Variety
Of Ways.
PUZZLE A STRANGER
ONE TOWN MAY BE GIVEN WITH
sIXTY-FIVE VARIATIONS.
The Forts Of Jodpore-Where the
Widows Of 800 Rajas Were
Burned Alive.
PUZZLE A STRANGER
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
epecal Correspondence Of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
JEYPORE, February Is, 1904.
A board Of geographic names. similar to
the one we have in Washington, is very
padly needed in India to straighten out
discrepancies in the nomenclature on the
maps. l am told that only three towns in
all this vast empire have a single spelling;
all the rest have several; some have many.
and the name of one town. have forgot
ten which-is given in sixty-five different
ways This town, for example is given
In fifteen. The sign over the entrance to
the railway station reads: 'Jeypure;" on
the lamps that light the platform 1t Is
painted ';Jeypoor;;' on our railway tickets 1t
was "Jaypur; on the bill of fare in .he
refreshment room of the station it was
sJaipor; on a telegram delivered by the
operator at the station 1t was spelled "Jai-
phur.' If the people about single estab-
itshment in the town can get up that num-
Der Of spells, what are we to expect from
the rest of the inhabitants of a city OF
10000 people? And Jeypore is one of the
simplest and easiest names in the gazetteer.
The neighboring city of Jodpore. capital
or the adjoining native state of Marwar,
OHers an even greater variety of orthoephy,
dor 1t appears in a different spelling on each
of the three maps | am CARRYING around-a
railway maj, government map and the
map In Murray's GUIDE Book. This is fair
illustration G the Indian discussions over
Nomenclature, which a very bewildering
ito a stranger, who never knows when he
gets the right spelling, and sometimes can
mot even find the towns he is LOOKING for.
The Forts of Jodpore.
| Jodpore is famous for it's forts which pre-
sent magnificent appearance from the
Ewide spreading plain, as they are perched
at the top of a rocky hill with almost
perpendicular sides, 800 feet high The
only way to reach 1t Is by a zig-zag road
chiseled out OF the side of cliff, which
Heads to massive gateway. The walls are
fwenty-eight feet high and twenty-eight
feet thick. and the crowned with pictur-
esque towers. During ascent you are shown
the Impressions of the hands of the fif-
feen wives of one Of the rajas who were
an burned IN one grand holocaust upon
The funeral pyre. don't know why they
did It, but the marks are there.
7 Within the walls are some very interest
ing old palaces. built in the fifteenth CEN
Jury, of pure Hindu architecture and the
carvings and perforated marble work are
of the most delicate and beautiful designs
sThe treasury. which contains the family
Jewels and plate, is the chief object of
tourist curiosity, and 1t is a collection
worth going far to see. The pearls and
emeralds are especially fine. and are worth
fortunes The saddles. brides harness and
other stable equipments are loaded with
gold and silver ornaments set with precious
stones, and the trappings for elephants
are covered with the most gorgeous gold
and silver embroidery.
. About half mile outside of the city
walls Is temple called the Maha Mandir
" hose roof is supported by a hundred richly
decorated columns. On either side of it are
palaces intended exclusively for the use
or spirits Of former rulers of the country.
Their beds are laid out with richly en-
ibroidered coverings and lace, with golden
canopies and curtains Of brocade. but are
never slept in by living people. being re-
served for the spirits of the dead. This Is
1.-THE only exhibition of the kind to be seen
in India, and why the dead and gone
rulers of Marwar should need lodgings
when those of the other Indian states do
not is an unsolved mystery.
Where Rajas' Widows Were Cremated.
Z In the royal cemetery. about three miles
to the north. rows of beautiful but neglected
cenotaphs mark the spots where the re-
mains Of each OF some 800 rajahs were con-
sumed with their living wives Some of
| them had more and some less according to
their taste and opportunities. and sutti. or
widow burning, was enforced in Jodpore
more strictly than anywhere else in India
You can imagine the thoughts that this ex-
traorohnary place suggests. Within It's walls
)
tom, not less than 300 or a thousand inno-
cent. helpless women were burned alive for
these oriental potentates certainly must
have allowed themselves at least three
wives each. That would be q very moderate
estimate. l have no doubt that some of
them had forty. and perhaps 400 and we
know that one had fifteen. But no matter
how many times raja went to the matri-
monial altar. every wife that outlived him
was burned upon his funeral pyre in order
that he might enjoy her society in the other
world
: Widow burning was stopped by the Brit
ish government in the sixties and the
spirits of the rajas of Jodpore have since
been compelled to go to paradise without
company. But they do not take any
chances OF offending the deities by neglect,
: for on hill that overlookS their cemetery
j they have erected a sort of sweepstakes
temple to Three Hundred Million Gods
Al the palace of the raiah of Ulwar in a
city or the same name. sometimes spelled
Alwar, and in forty other different ways
which lies about thirty miles north of here
fs another collection of jewels, ranked
among the finest in India. The treasure
house contains several great chests Of teak
wood, handsomely carved and gilded, filled
with gold and silver vessels and ornaments
That have accumulated in the family during
several centuries, and no matter how Sc
we're the plague or how many people are
kdylns OF famine, these precious heiriooms
have never been disturbed. Perhaps the
most valuable piece in the collection is a
drinking cup cut out OF single emerald,
as large as those used for after dinner cof-
! fee; there Is a ruby said to be one of the
| largest In existence and worth $3.50 900; a
yellow diamond Is valued at 100000: sew
eral strings OF almost priceless pearls and
other jewels of similar value. There are
baskets of gold and ivory in which hun
dreds OF thousands OF dollars worth of
jewels are imbedded. perfumery bottles of
solid gold with the surfaces entirely in
tcrusted with pearls and diamonds and hung
upon the walls around are shawls that are
; worth thousand times their weight In
gold
The saddles. harness and elephant trap
pings are much more beautiful and costly
than those at Jodpore. and in the adJoin-
ing armory is a remarkable collection of
swords and other weapons with hits of
gold. Jade enamel and Jewels The coat
or mail worn by Bani Singh. grandfather
of the present raja, is made CT solid gold
weighing sixteen and a half pounds and
Is layishly decorated with diamonds
Literary Treasures
The library Is rich in rare oriental books
and manuscripts. wonderfully illuminated
In eolors and gold. 1t has large collec-
/ ton OF editions of the Koran in fifty or
more different languages. and one manu-
script book called 1.-THE Gullstan" is
claimed to be the most valuable volume in