Described variously as the Rajput war, Rathore war of independence and Rathore rebellion,[1] the conflict between Rajputs of Marwar and the Mughals started after the death of Jaswant Singh of Marwar, due to Aurangzeb's attempt to interfere in the succession of Marwar. The resistance to Mughal interference was started by the Rajput nobles under Durgadas Rathore and erupted into an all-out war between the Mughal empire and Rajputs of Marwar supported by Mewar Rajputs. It lasted for almost thirty years. The rebellion reached a climax after the death of Aurangzeb on 3 March 1707 and the capture of Jodhpur by the Rathores on 12 March 1707.[3]
Jaswant Singh died at Jamrud in November 1678, during the time of his death two of his wives were pregnant. After Jaswant's demise the Mughal Emperor declared Jodhpur a crown land and placed his officers to control all affairs. The Rathors were not able to retaliate as they were dismayed by their king's death.[4] He also called Jaswant Singh's family to the capital Delhi, on the way Jaswant Singh's two widows gave birth to two sons, of which one died after birth. The surviving child was named Ajit Singh.[3][1]
On 23 July 1679, Aurangzeb made attempts to divide Marwar into two Rathore principalities, one held by Inder Singh Rathore and other by Ajit Singh. Aurangzeb also proposed that Ajit Singh should be raised as a Muslim and offered Jodhpur in return.[4] The Jodhpur nobles led by Durgadas opposed this decision, upon which Aurangzeb tried to imprison the infant prince Ajit Singh. An armed detachment under the magistrate of Delhi was sent to capture the prince and queens of Jaswant Singh. Durgadas refused to comply and fired upon the Mughals with Muskets, leading to a conflict. Durgadas disguised the queens as men and personally carried Ajit Singh. After an exchange of fire, the Rajputs charged at the Mughals with lances and paved a way for the prince and the queens to escape. There was a desperate fight through the city in which the rajputs twice fell back and slowed down the pursuing Mughal soldiers, allowing Durgadas to safely lead the prince and the queens back to Jodhpur.[5][6]
Upon hearing of this news, the Marwar loyalists led by Sonig Rathore and Ram Bhati captured the fort of Jodhpur from the Mughal officers, Tahir Beg and Tahawar Khan. Other loyalists like Sujan Singh also captured the forts of Siwana and Merta.[1] Ajit Singh was soon crowned, and great rejoicing took place in Marwar. Aurangzeb during this time realised that Inder Singh was too unpopular to be of any use and set him aside. He also declared Ajit Singh an imposter and rallied his army from all ends of his empire.[6]
Prince Akbar was sent with an army to occupy Jodhpur. The Rajputs made headstrong and suicidal attacks on the Mughals, but they were unable to stop their advance towards Jodhpur, which was soon occupied by Akbar.[5]
Aurangzeb's religious persecution enraged Rana Raj Singh of Mewar, who was now ready to take up Ajit Singh's cause, resulting in the alliance between the Rathores and the Sisodias. Rana Raj Singh was also opposed to Mughal interference in Rajput politics and detested the Mughals for annexing Mewar's southern and western lands. When the Mughals invaded Marwar, Durgadas had sent messengers to Rana Raj Singh, requesting him to provide shelter for Ajit Singh. Raj Singh agreed and hid Ajit in the mountainous region of Kelwa. Aurangzeb had several reasons to invade Mewar, but giving shelter to Ajit Singh was a major provocation that Aurangzeb could not ignore. The Mughal emperor sent several letters to the Rana, but Raj Singh refused to change his decision.[1]
Aurangzeb was thus quick to retaliate and invaded Mewar; he was initially successful and forced the Rana to retreat into the hills. The war soon became a stalemate. The Mughals failed to capture the hilly tract of Mewar and they suffered against the guerrilla style of war that the Rajputs had now started. The Rajputs also attacked Aurangzeb's son Akbar and took all of the Mughal supplies, reducing the imperial army to starvation. Akbar wrote to Aurangzeb saying that his army "stood motionless through fear".[4] Aurangzeb punished Akbar by replacing him with Azam. Akbar felt insulted and struck a deal with Durgadas to overthrow his father. The Rajputs with the army of Akbar now marched towards Aurangzeb (January 1681), who was at Ajmer. Aurangzeb felt helpless as he had lost his best men and could not summon any reinforcements as they were all stationed elsewhere. However, Akbar delayed his attack. This allowed Aurangzeb to sow dissension between Akbar and the Rajputs by writing false letters and framing his son for deceit. Most of the Rajputs, though not Durgadas, abandoned Akbar and left his camp. Akbar was soon forced to abandon everything and flee to the Deccan with Durgadas. During this time, Ajit Singh was hidden in Sirohi, while the war was continued by different captains of Marwar.[6]
After the death of Rana Raj Singh, Aurangzeb was able to sue for peace with Mewar, upon which the new Rana was forced to give away some land and promise not to help Ajit Singh. But the war with the Rathores continued. In 1686, Durgadas returned and won several victories against the Mughals, prompting Shujaat Khan, the Mughal governor of Gujarat and Jodhpur, to lead an intensive campaign against the Rathors.[6] Under the able command of Durgadas, the Rajputs made continuous attacks on the Mughal officers and forced them to pay tribute in the form of chauth.[4]
During the same year, Aurangzeb's granddaughter, who was in the custody of the Rathors, was returned to him as goodwill. This improved the relations between the Mughals and the Rathors, as Aurangzeb was now ready to recognise Ajit Singh as the Raja of Marwar, but refused to give Jodhpur to him. Ajit Singh tried to capture Jodhpur in 1701 and 1706 but failed in his attempts. Rana Jai Singh of Mewar also remained rebellious during this time and refused to send his horsemen as expected of his rank. Hostilities thus continued until Aurangzeb's death, after which Jodhpur was captured by the Rathores.[1][6]
Aftermath
Jodhpur was captured by Ajit Singh on 12 March 1707, when he defeated the Imperial Qiledar and either killed or pushed the Mughals out of Marwar. The Mughal succession war gave Ajit Singh enough time to prepare an army and capture Sojat, Pali and Merta. However Bahadur Shah I would soon become the emperor and invade Marwar again, resulting in the Rajput Rebellion of 1708–1710.[1]
The Rajput wars of Aurangzeb produced disastrous consequences for his Empire. Thousands of lives were sacrificed and enormous sums were wasted on the desert land without any lasting success to the emperor.
Mirza Muhammad Mu'azzam, commonly known as Bahadur Shah I and Shah Alam I, was the eighth Mughal Emperor from 1707 to 1712. He was the second son of the sixth Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, who he conspired to overthrow in his youth. He was also governor of the imperial provinces of Agra, Kabul and Lahore and had to face revolts of Rajputs and Sikhs.
The Rajputana Agency was a political office of the British Indian Empire dealing with a collection of native states in Rajputana, under the political charge of an Agent reporting directly to the Governor-General of India and residing at Mount Abu in the Aravalli Range. The total area of the states falling within the Rajputana Agency was 127,541 square miles (330,330 km2), with eighteen states and two estates or chiefships.
Marwar is a region of western Rajasthan state in North Western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. The word 'maru' is Sanskrit for desert. The word "wad" literally means fence in Rajasthani languages. English translation of the word 'Marwar' is the region protected by desert.
Ajit Singh Rathore was the ruler of Marwar region in the present-day Rajasthan and the son of Jaswant Singh Rathore.
Durgadas Rathore was the Rathore Rajput General of the Kingdom of Marwar. He is credited with having preserved the rule of the Rathore dynasty over Marwar, India, following the death of Maharaja Jaswant Singh in the 17th century.
Rao Maldeo Rathore was a king of the Rathore dynasty, who ruled the kingdom of Marwar in present day state of Rajasthan. Maldeo ascended the throne in 1531 CE, inheriting a small ancestral principality of Rathore's but after a long period of military actions against his neighbours, Maldeo swept significant territories which included parts of present day Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Sindh. He refused to ally with either the Sur Empire or the Mughal Empire.
Rao JodhaRathore was the 15th Rajput chief of Rathore clan who ruled the Kingdom of Marwar in the present-day state of Rajasthan. He was the eldest son of Rao Ranmal. He is known for his illustrious military career and for founding the city of Jodhpur in 1459, which subsequently became the new capital of Marwar after Mandore.
Raja Jaswant Singh I was the Rathore Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Marwar in the western part of Rajputana modern day Rajasthan. He was a distinguished man of letters and author of noted literary works like Siddhant-Bodh, Anand Vilas and Bhasha-Bhushan.
Mirza Muhammad Akbar was a Mughal prince and the fourth son of Emperor Aurangzeb and his chief consort Dilras Banu Begum. He went into exile in Safavid Persia after a failed rebellion against his father in the Deccan.
Rao Amar Singh was the eldest son and heir-apparent of Raja Gaj Singh I of the Rathore Kingdom of Marwar in seventeenth-century Rajputana.
The Kingdom of Mewar was an independent kingdom that existed in the Rajputana region of the Indian subcontinent and later became a major power in medieval India. The kingdom was initially founded and ruled by the Guhila dynasty followed by the Sisodiya Dynasty. The kingdom came to be known as the Udaipur State after it became a princely state in the nineteenth century.
Kingdom of Marwar also known as Jodhpur State during the modern era, was a kingdom in the Marwar region from 1243 to 1818 and a princely state under British rule from 1818 to 1947. It was established in Pali by Rao Siha, possibly a migrant Gahadavala noble, in 1243. His successors continued to struggle against regional powers for domination and 9 out of 15 rulers till 1438 died in combat. In 1395, its capital was changed to Mandore by Rao Chunda of Mandore and to Jodhpur in 1459 by Rao Jodha.
The Mughal–Rajput wars were a series of battles between the Rajput Confederacy and the Mughal Empire. The conflicts originated with the invasion of northwestern India by the Mughal ruler Babur, to which the head of the Rajput confederacy, Rana Sanga, offered staunch resistance. The conflicts went on since 1526 for over 200 years, with the Mughals having the upper hand until the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, following which they entered a declining phase and the Rajputs gained the upper hand, with the last recorded conflict taking place in 1779.
Maharana Raj Singh I, was the Maharana of Mewar Kingdom and eldest son of Maharana Jagat Singh I. He fought against Mughal Empire and annexed many Mughal territories He participated in Rajput-Mughal War (1679–1707) and defeated the Mughals.
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Rao Chandrasen was a Rathore Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Marwar.He was a younger son of Rao Maldev Rathore. He followed his father's policy and stayed hostile to the ruling foreign powers in north India. He is remembered for resisting the territorial expansion of the Mughal Empire in Marwar.
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References
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hooja, Rima (2006). A History of Rajasthan. Rupa. pp.595–610. ISBN9788129115010. With Aurangzeb's death in 1707, the first phase of Rathore resistance against the Mughals ended. Ajit Singh wrested the fort and city of Jodhpur from the imperial qiledar on March 12, 1707, after killing or dispersing the imperial garrison. Thereafter, while the sons of Aurangzeb were involved in a struggle for the imperial throne Ajit Singh succeeded in extending his sway over Sojat, Pali and Merta.
↑ Rima Hooja, The History of Rajasthan, p. 624: "Some 40,000 of whom are said to have been soldiers from Marwar and Mewar"
1 2 3 4 5 Majumdar, R. C. (2020). an advanced history of Rajasthan. Trinity Press. pp.494–497. The Rathors, thrown into confusion and dismay by the death of their chief, failed to present any united national resistance.... Jodhpur was offered to Ajit on condition of his turning a Muslim. This extraordinary proposal hurt the feelings of the Rathors.... Rajputs carried on a guerrilla warfare and fell on the Mughal outposts with so much courage that 'the command of the outposts went a-begging, captain after captain declining the dangerous honour and offering excuses'. The Rajputs surprised the Mughal army under Prince Akbar in May 1680 and carried off its provisions. Reduced to starvation the Mughal army stood "motionless through fear", as Prince Akbar complained.... Under the able leadership of Durgadas, the Rathors ceaselessly carried on a guerrilla warfare and harassed the Mughal outposts so that the Mughal officers were compelled to pay chauth. According to historian Jadunath Sarkar, the date of the attack was 14 May 1680 (History of Aurangzib: Northern India, 1658–1681 (M. C. Sarkar & Sons, 1920) p. 408).
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