Rathore Rebellion (1679–1707)
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The Rathore rebellion, described variously as the Rajput War and Rathore War of Independence, was the conflict between Rajputs of Marwar and the
Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...
that started after the death of
Jaswant Singh of Marwar Raja Jaswant Singh I (26 December 1626 – ) was the Rathore ruler of the Kingdom of Marwar in the western part of Rajputana (modern-day Rajasthan, India). He was a distinguished man of letters and author of noted literary works like ''Siddha ...
, due to
Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...
's attempt to interfere in the succession of
Marwar Marwar (also called Jodhpur region) is a region of western Rajasthan state in North Western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. 'Maru' is a Sanskrit word for desert. The word 'wad' literally means fence in Rajasthani languages. Engl ...
. The resistance to Mughal interference was started by the Rajput nobles under
Durgadas Rathore Durgadas Rathore (13 August 1638 – 22 November 1718) was a Rathore Rajput general of the Kingdom of Marwar. He is credited with having preserved the rule of the Rathore dynasty over Marwar (present-day Rajasthan), India, following th ...
and erupted into an all-out war between the
Mughal empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...
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 Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...
by the Rathores on 12 March 1707.


Background

Jaswant Singh Major Jaswant Singh (3 January 193827 September 2020) was an Indian Army officer and politician. He was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and was one of India's longest serving parliamenta ...
died at
Jamrud Jamrūd (Pashto/) or Jam () is a town in the Khyber District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, on the western fringe of Peshawar city, Jamrud is the doorway to the Khyber Pass which is just to the west of the to ...
in November 1678. At the time of his death, two of his wives were pregnant. After Jaswant's demise the Mughal Emperor declared
Jodhpur Jodhpur () is the second-largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, after its capital Jaipur. As of 2023, the city has a population of 1.83 million. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Jodhpur district and ...
a crown land and placed his officers to control all affairs. The Rathores were not able to retaliate as they were dismayed by their king's death. According to historian Jadunath Sarkar, the date of the attack was 14 May 1680. He also called Jaswant Singh's family to the capital
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
, on the way Jaswant Singh's two widows gave birth to two sons, one of whom died after birth. The surviving child was named Ajit Singh.


Rajput war

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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
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". 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 Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...
. 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 Sirohi is a town, located in Sirohi district in southern Rajasthan state in western India. It is the administrative headquarters of Sirohi District and was formerly the capital of the princely state of Sirohi ruled by Deora Chauhan Rajput ...
, while the war was continued by different captains of Marwar. 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. 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 Chauth (from ) was a regular tax or tribute imposed from the early 18th century by the Maratha Empire in the Indian subcontinent. It was an annual tax nominally levied at 25% on revenue or produce, hence the name, on lands that were under nominal M ...
. 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.


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 Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
and Merta. However
Bahadur Shah I Bahadur Shah I (Muhammad Mu'azzam; 14 October 1643 – 27 February 1712) or 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 ...
would soon become the emperor and invade Marwar again, resulting in the Rajput Rebellion of 1708–1710.


See also

* Rajput Rebellion (1708–1710) *
Mughal–Maratha Wars The Deccan wars were a series of military conflicts between the Mughal Empire and the descendants of the Maratha Empire, Maratha ruler Shivaji from the time of Shivaji's death in 1680 until the death of Emperor Aurangzeb in 1707. Shivaji was ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajput War (1679-1707) Battles involving the Mughal Empire Kingdom of Marwar Battles involving the Rajputs 17th century in the Mughal Empire Kingdom of Mewar