Schools, Udaipur: see EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS.

Seasons. Udaipur and the surrounding countryside has three seasons a year: the hot, the wet, and the cool. The heat starts to build up on the plains from around late February; by April or May it has become unbearable: the air is dry and there is a daily haze of dust. Later in June, come the first signs of the monsoon: short, sharp rainstorms, violent electric storms, and dust storms. The heat towards the end of the hot season is oppressive, making one listless and tired; and tempers tend to become short. Thus there is always great relief when the monsoon finally arrives. Starting around June, the rain begins to fall steadily, for days on end. But it does not cool things off: heat, humidity and mud replace the dryness and dust. However, when the sun finally emerges, conditions are very pleasant and the countryside is swathed in greenery. Finally around September and October the monsoon finishes, and this is the best time of year in Udaipur. Everything is still green and lush, the rain has gone for another year, and average daily temperatures are not too hot, nor too cool. This is the start of the tourist season which lasts, as mentioned above, until the heat begins to build up again in late February.

Although the above is standard general information, when there is a prolonged drought, as there has been for several years at the time of writing, overbearing heat predominates throughout the year. Rivers run dry and lakes and essential reservoirs reach dangerously low levels or, worse, become an arena of dried, cracked mud. However, when the monsoon rains finally do arrive, the countryside and the hills become green once more.

Sei River: see NATURAL FEATURES OF MEWAR.

Semari (Saktwat), 80 km. south of Udaipur near Kesariaji. Maharana Jagat Singh II gave this village to Surjan Singh, grandson of Narhardas of Bansi, and his descendants. Their title is 'Rawat'.

Genealogy: Surjan Singh; Samant Singh; Jaswant Singh; Jalim Singh; Jorawar Singh, Nahar Singh; Khuman Singh; Pratap Singh; Abhey Singh; Jagpradee Singh.

Sepoy Mutiny: see INDIAN MUTINY.

sepoys, Indian troops in the employ of the British East India Company.

Servants in Feudal Mewar. There were three classes of servants or slaves in medieval times that worked in the employ of clan chiefs and the kingdom's rulers. They were the Basai, Gola, and Das. The first, a Basai was an 'acquired slave', a free Rajput who worked the lands of a chief and depended upon him for protection. This dependence was often the result of famine or continual harassment by wandering hordes of DACOITS (bandits). The term simply meant occupant, dweller, or settler and, indeed, the only badge denoting the Basai was a small tuft of hair on the crown of the head. There was no dishonour attached to being a Basai, therefore the class could retain their employment and caste, and were confined to no occupation. During times of peace, the chief used the Basai to work his own lands in return for residence on the estate. Unlike those in the European feudal system, they were also allowed small properties (fiefs) of their own and certain civil rights. However, granting such privileges cost money. Life was a vicious circle: to help supplement his treasury, the chief collected revenue from his slaves. These taxes included fees on marriages and the food served at marriage feasts, and even a tax on temple lands which, if unpaid, was taken in the form of cattle belonging to the temple minders. There were also commercial fees to be paid, mainly by the owners of merchant caravans that travelled through his estate. Unfortunately, such fiscal necessity often turned to greed, and quite often the chief of one estate became the aggressor who plundered neighbouring estates. So, the vicious circle fed upon itself; whole communities sacrificed their liberties and became what virtually amounted to slaves of their protector. Because of this, he became the arbiter of their lives and fortunes. The Basai usually formed the greater part of a chief's estate. They were his subjects and the Maharana, the paramount lord of Mewar, had no authority over them whatsoever. Although the Basai were indebted to their chieftain, with that chief's sanction, being (superficially) free men they could redeem their liberty. However there were occasions when this status was not guaranteed. Famine was a great cause of loss of liberty, when thousands of slaves in the affected region had to be sold. Despite this, it was not uncommon for a grateful slave to say, "You may sell me, I am your Basai." Some towns in India called Basai derived their name from this system of slavery. A chief who was forced, usually by oppression, to abandon his paternal land and settle in new areas, was accompanied voluntarily by his subjects of all classes, including his Basai, in preference to submitting to foreign rule. From this, the township thus created would often be called Basai.

The second class, a Gola (female, Goli) was an 'hereditary slave' or servant, a member of the chief's household who was born into slavery. There were a great number of Golas in respectable Rajput families. They were the illegitimate children of men of rank (such as the nobility, but excluding the Maharana), also the descendants of such servants. Their ranking in the household depended upon the quality (social standing) of the mother. Those of the same blood as the chief, sired by his union with a servant girl, often held positions of trust. They were adorned with a silver ring around the left ankle. The Gola had no wish to redeem his liberty, as he could never improve his position or overcome his natural defects. On the whole, the Golas were well treated and were often trusted servants and amongst the best of the military retainers. A chief, needing a small army to protect his subjects, or to serve his sovereign in battle, recruited his army of retainers from this bastard caste. It was not uncommon for a chief to appear at court accompanied by several hundred Golas. Their duties included keeping away flies with whisks, palanquin carriers, carrying the royal insignias in a procession, taking charge of horses when nobles dismounted, looking after the noble's clothing, and so on. The chief owned these men and, consequently, when called upon he was able to raise two thousand retainers, all his own vassals. A Gola could marry only a Goli. The best-known Goli in the annals of Mewar was RAMPIYARI, who was a powerful maidservant of Rajmata Sardar Kunwar Jhali, mother and Regent of Maharana BHIM SINGH. Rampiyari even had her own palace (now a few hundred metres east of Shiv Niwas Palace on Lake Palace Road).

The third class, Das was the illegitimate son of a noble from his union with a servant girl and was, therefore, treated as a slave. The illegitimate daughters, also servants, were called Dasi. These unfortunates had no rank, though the males were liberally provided for, usually with a small fief (a tract of land given by a feudal lord to a subordinate on condition of performing certain services). A Das could redeem his liberty in several ways: either he could sell a fief that he held, or he could gain his freedom if he had been a champion in battle or had saved the life of his master. However, as with the Gola, he could never rise above the condition in which this defect of birth had placed him: he could only marry one of his own kind. Even the lowest Rajput would refuse his daughter to such a son of a noble.

Sesoda, Sesodia: see SISODA, SISODIA.

Seth R. Yaksma Arogya Sadan T.B. Hospital, located in the suburb of Bari, Udaipur.

Sethji-ki-Haveli (Badnor-ki-Haveli), a palace of the nobility in Udaipur.

Sevantri, a village 5 km. from CHARBHUJA; it has a temple with massive carved pillars, built in 1652 and dedicated to Ram and Lakshman. It is where the Rathore pilgrim Bida forfeited his own life by helping Sangram Singh escape following a fight with his brothers, Crown Prince Prithvi Raj and Jaimal. (See SANGA AND PRITHVI RAJ).