The month of Kwar comes after the monsoon and thereby hangs a tale. A former priest of the Nathdwara temple came to Delhi some decades ago from Udaipur and among those who happened to meet him was this scribe's father, who heard from him a strange tale. This concerned the nine ranis of Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Jodhpur, general of the forces of Aurangzeb and later Governor of Jamrud (now in Pakistan), who died at Kabul on December 10, 1678. Before his death the Maharaja visited the Mughal court in Delhi and, besides meeting the emperor, also met the pujari of the Hanuman temple built by Maharaja Man Singh, Akbar's renowned general. The temple is now situated near the Jantar Mantar on Baba Kharag Singh Marg, but in those days it was in the wilderness of Raisina. The only habitation there was the palace of Mirza Raja Jai Singh of Amber.

Maharaja Jaswant Singh had stayed in Chandni Chowk and later at the palace which has now become Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. The Maharaja had come to know that the pujari of the Hanuman Temple could predict the future with great accuracy by just glancing at the palm of a person. The priest was old and infirm but his eyes burnt with the zeal of faith and his matted hair sometimes coiled up like the hood of a serpent. Maharaja Jaswant Singh had brought gifts, carried by a dozen men, for him and though the priest at first declined to accept them he finally acceded to the visitor's wishes.

The Maharaja disclosed the purpose of his visit and offered his palm to the pujari. It was the month of Kwar (mid-September) and the time was late afternoon. The priest peered at the royal palm for several minutes and told Jaswant Singh to go back home and not bother about the future. But the Maharaja insisted on knowing it. “Then listen,” said the priest, “You will not come back to Delhi again but die in a distant land far from your near and dear ones. If you do not want to defy fate then do not accept the emperor's offer of governorship in the hills but retire to your native State.” The Maharaja heard the prediction with a sullen face and taking leave of the pujari returned to the Walled City of Delhi. He met Aurangzeb the next day and told him that he was not inclined to accept the governorship of Jamrud. The emperor asked him the reason and Jaswant Singh told him that it was the wish of his nine ranis that he should now give up his military career and settle down in Jodhpur. He however hid the fact that the pujari of Hanuman Temple had advised him to refuse the offer. The emperor was cunning and shrewd and also had a great persuasive charm. Catching hold of the Maharaja's hand he told him that this would be the last assignment he would give his Rajput friend who had always stood by him and had even defeated Shivaji in one crucial battles while leading the imperial forces in 1665. The emperor emphasised that the strategic Jamrud posting was meant for a man of the Maharaja's calibre. He further promised to recall him as soon as the threat of a possible invasion receded. The Maharaja could not refuse the request, and after a few days he left, never to return.

The nine ranis however did not accompany him as Jaswant Singh told them he would return in a few months. He asked them to proceed to Agra, where the literary Maharaja had a palace. As predicted, Jaswant Singh died at Kabul and was cremated there but his nine ranis committed sati on the Yamuna bank at Agra, where a chhatri or canopy marks the memorial to the Maharaja. However, there is a twist to the tale: one account says that two of his pregnant ranis did not commit sati but travelled to Lahore at the emperor's bidding. There each of them delivered a son and the emperor desired that he be given the charge of bringing up one of them. A little boy was cunningly substituted for the Maharaja's posthumous son and delivered to the emperor while the ranis returned to their native place with their sons. Father further disclosed that the Chhatri of Jaswant Singh is also known as the place where Rani Hada, wife of the celebrated Amar Singh Rathore, committed sati. Amar Singh was killed after he had slain Salahat Khan, Nur Jahan's cousin at the Court of Shah Jahan in 1644. This leaves the tale of the nine ranis hanging in mid-air. But not so, for the hereditary temple priest of Nathdwara still visits the Chhatri every year in the month of Kwar to perform puja there and keep up the 334-year-old tradition of the nine satis. When one visits Hanuman Mandir in Delhi one is reminded of them and the predicted fate of the Maharaja.

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