Later Mughals v1.c9.s14: Sec. 15.—Campaign Against Rajah Ajit Singh Rathor (Nov. 1713—July 1714).
Later Mughals v1.c9.s14
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Sec. 15.—Campaign Against Rajah Ajit Singh Rathor (Nov. 1713—July 1714).
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As we have already explained, the Rajput States had been for fifty years in veiled revolt from the imperial authority. Bahadur Shah had been unable, owing to more pressing affairs, to reduce the Rajahs effectually. During the confusion which arose on that monarch's death, Ajit Singh, after forbidding cow-killing and the call for prayer from the Alamgiri mosque, besides ejecting the imperial officers from Jodhpur and destroying their houses, had entered the imperial territory and taken possession of Ajmer. Early in Farrukh-siyar's reign it was determined that this encroachment must be put an end to; and as the Rajah's replies to the imperial orders were not satisfactory, it was necessary to march against him.*
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At first it was intended that the Emperor in person should take the field, but he was dissuaded on the ground that his dignity would suffer if the rebel fled into the desert, where there was nothing but sand to feed upon. Nor does the Emperor appear to have been in particularly good health.* Husain Ali Khan was therefore appointed, Samsam-ud-daulah receiving charge of his seal as his deputy at Court. The plots against the Sayyids were still being carried on in Farrukh-siyar’s entourage, and the plotters hoped that by separating the brothers the task of overthrowing them would be rendered easier. There were also the chances and dangers of a campaign to be counted on in their favour. On this occasion we hear for the first time of a plan which was adopted very frequently in this reign and afterwards. Official orders were given in one sense, and the opposing side received secret letters of a different purport, assuring them of future favour if they made a vigorous defence and defeated the imperial general sent against them. Letters were despatched to Rajah Ajit Singh urging him to make away with Husain Ali Khan in any way he could, whereupon the whole of the Bakhshi’s property and treasure would become his; and he would, in addition, receive other rewards.†
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∗ Khafi Khan ii. 738. Ahwal-ul-khawaqin, 69b. According to Tod, ii. 82, the Rajah had been called on to send in his son, Abhai Singh, but had refused. Instead, he sent men to Dihli to assassinate one Mukand, his enemy. This outrage produced the invasion of Jodhpur. Probably this Mukand is the same as Mulkan of Mairtha on p. 75 of the same volume.
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† Kamwar Khan, 142, entry of 13th Zul Qada 1125 H. (2nd December, 1713) Ahwal-ul-khawaqin 70a, Shiu Das p. 36.
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Husain Ali Khan’s audience of leave-taking was granted on the 29th Zul Qada (16th December 1713), and his advance tents left Dihli on the 20th Zul Hijja 1125 H. (6th January 1714). The generals under him were Sarbuland Khan, Afrasyab Khan, Itiqad Khan (grandson of Shaista Khan, deceased), Dildaler Khan, Saif-ud-din Ali Khan, Najm-ud-din Ali Khan, Asadullah Khan, Sayyid Shujaat-ullah Khan, Sayyid Husain Khan, Sayyid Khan, Aziz Khan Rohela, Chaghta Bahadur, Shakir Khan, Ghulam Ali Khan, Rajah Udwant Singh Bundela, Raja Gopal Singh Bhadauriya, Rajah Raj Bahadur of Rupnagar and others. From the imperial magazines there were delivered to him 500 mans of powder and lead, 200 rockets, 100 *mahtab*, and five cannon. Although a letter had been received from the Rajah on the 15th Zul Hijja 1125 H. (1st January 1714), the contents not being of a satisfactory nature, the preparations were not suspended and the advance began. Then Raghunath, a *munshi* in the service of Ajit Singh, came to Sarai Sahal, escorted by one thousand horsemen, with a view to negotiation.* Husain Ali Khan was then at Sarai Allahwirdi Khan. He rejected the terms offered and sent on his tents from Sarai Sahal. [Kamwar 142, B. M. 1690, *f.* 166*a*.]
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∗ Farrukh-siyar was ill from the 1st Zul Hijja 1125 H. (18th December 1713), but was better on the 9th (26th December), and to stop rumours, he appeared at the Jama Masjid on the Id i.e., the 10th. His bathing after recovery took place on the 22nd (8th January 1714).—Kamwar Khan, 143.
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On the march thieves gave much trouble. The general caused a ditch to be dug round the camp each time a halt was made, and Mewati watchmen were placed outside it on guard. Once two Mina thieves were caught, and next morning were blown from guns. This severity scared the marauders away. In pargana Riwari and the villages on the road there were splendid standing crops. At first these were destroyed by the camp-followers. But to prevent this plundering, petty officers were placed on duty; next day several men were caught red-handed and brought in bound. They were paraded through the camp, seated on donkeys with their faces to the tail and arrows in their ears and noses. By this means the injury to the crops was put an end to. [Kamraj, 55*a*.]
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The Rathor army was reported to be twelve *kos* south of Sambhar; rumour said they were hiding in ambush and intended to molest the imperialists while on the march. Not a trace of them, however, was seen between the capital and Ajmer; and as the imperial army passed through pargana Sambhar it destroyed Sanamgarh, a place of worship which had been erected at great cost. The march was conducted under great difficulties, the army suffering much in those sandy deserts from the want of water, in spite of the fact that they carried a provision of it along with them. On reaching Ajmer the camp was pitched for some days on the banks of the lake Anasagar, whence messengers were sent to the Rajah, on the principle that "Peace is better than War." After a time the Sayyid moved on to Puhkar, five miles north-west of Ajmer and thence to Mairtha, about forty miles further on, in Jodhpur territory; but Ajit Singh still fled before him further into the sandy desert. An armed post (thana) of two thousand men was placed in the town of Mairtha. [Kamraj 55a, Qasim 197, Ahwal-ul-khawaqin, 71.]
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∗ The *Tuhfat-ul-Hind* of Lal Ram, B. M. Nos. 6583, 6584, folio 88*b*, gives the date 14th Muharram (1126)=29th January, 1714.
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In the country round Ajmer and between that place and Mairtha, the villages of Rajah Ajit Singh and those of Jai Singh of Amber are intermingled. The inhabitants of the Jodhpur villages were afraid and took to flight. Thereupon orders were issued to plunder and burn down all villages found uninhabited, but to leave all others unmolested. When this became known, the Jodhpur villages interceded through their Jaipur neighbours; their plundered goods were then restored, the only loss being of the houses that had been burned. The country was thus settled and brought under imperial rule, step by step, as the army moved forward. Abdus-samad Khan, who had been recalled from the Panjab, joined at Puhkar, but at the very first interview he and the Sayyid disagreed. [M. U. i. 321, Ahwal 71b.]
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On the way to Mairtha, Husain Ali Khan called a council of war, and proposed that in spite of the approach of the hot weather, stores of water should be collected and the advance continued. Ajit Singh, he asserted, must either be taken and his head sent to Court, or his son surrendered as a hostage and his daughter offered as a bride to the Emperor. Others advised delay, and much apprehension prevailed. The difficulties were many, the great heat of the sun, the deficiency of water, the high prices, the want of grain and grass for the cattle. In spite of all these, Husain Ali Khan resolved to leave most of his baggage behind and make a forced march on Jodhpur.*
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The conclusion of the campaign was soon announced at Court by a report received on the 14th Rabi I. 1126 H. (29th March 1714). It appeared that Ajit Singh had retreated in one night from his position south of Sambhar and had fallen back on Mairtha, and without making any stand there had gone on to Jodhpur, where he had hoped to be safe, surrounded by the desert. Finding that the Sayyid was still pressing onwards and seemed determined to strike a blow at him in spite of the inaccessibility of his capital, he sent his women and children into places of safety in the hill country, and himself sought refuge in the deserts of Bikaner.* Evidently he felt himself too weak to meet the imperialists in the open field, and during the time that Sayyid Miyan, the Bakhshi's father, was governor of Ajmer, the Rajputs had learned respect for Husain Ali Khan's qualities as a general. When Husain Ali Khan was within 30 miles of Mairtha, an embassy arrived from the Rajah, escorted by fifteen hundred horsemen.† It was believed that their arrival was a mere subterfuge, devised in order to gain time for the Rajah to escape. In order to make sure of them, Husain Ali Khan told them that if they were in earnest, they must agree to be put in fetters. After objecting to this proposal, as involving infamy and disgrace, they consented. Four of the principal men were put in chains. Directly they made their appearance from the audience tent in this condition, the loose characters of the imperial camp assumed that the envoys' overtures had been rejected. A body of them rushed at once to the Rajput tents, attacked their guards, and plundered all their property. There was great difficulty in suppressing this disorder. The envoys were sent for, their chains removed, and full apologies made. The envoys themselves were satisfied and continued the negotiation, but news of the outbreak having reached the Rajah, he fled. Husain Ali Khan was thus forced to advance to Mairtha, where he halted until the terms of peace had been arranged.*
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∗ Kamraj 55b, Ahwal-ul-khawaqin 72a.
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∗ Tod, ii. 82, says Ajit Singh sent off the men of wealth to Sewanah and his son and family to the desert of Razdarroh, west of the Loni river. This Razdarroh may be the Raus or Rass of Thornton, 820, a town on the n. w. declivity of the Aravalli range, 38 m. w. of Nasirabad, Lat. 26° 17'. Long. 74° 16'. Sewana is 27 m. s. w. by s. of Jodhpur, 42 m. n. of Disa, Lat. 24° 50', Long. 72°.
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† Khush-hal Chand, 401b, says that Ajit Singh asked Jai Singh of Amber for advice, and was recommended to make terms. Is this at all likely? According to Tod, ii. 82, the terms were asked for by the advice of Ajit Singh's diwans, and still more of Kesar, the bard, who adduced a precedent of the time when Daulat Khan Lodi had invaded Marwar.
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The terms were that the Rajah should give one of his daughters in marriage to the Emperor, in the mode which they styled Dola,† that the Rajah's son, Abhai Singh, should accompany Husain Ali Khan to Court, and that the Rajah in person should attend when summoned.‡ Zafar Khan (Roshan-ud-daulah) arrived at Court on the 5th Jamadi I. 1126 H. (18th May, 1714), with the news. Husain Ali Khan sent the greater part of his army back to Dihli, and remained for two months in Ajmer, restoring the country to order. On the 26th Jamadi II. 1126 H. (8th June, 1714), it had been reported that he was at Puhkar, west of Ajmer, on his way back from Mairtha. On the return march, owing to the great heat, they moved at night and halted in the day. On the 2nd Rajab (13th July, 1714), he arrived at Sarai Allahwirdi Khan. On the 5th he was presented to the Emperor, being received with great outward cordiality, and the commanders who had served under him were richly rewarded. Zafar Khan was honoured with the special title of Fidwi-i-farmanbardar, "the loyal and order-obeying servant." Kunwar Abhai Singh's audience took place three days afterwards (19th July, 1714), with all fitting ceremony.§
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† Dola, a Hindi word for an informal marriage. Tawarikh-i-Marwar of Murari Das, vol. 2, fol. 80b, states that the girl's Hindu name was Bai Indar Kunwar.
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‡ Tod ii. 82, Abhai Singh was recalled from Razdarroh and marched to Dihli with Husain Ali Khan at the end of Asarh 1770. The last day of that month equals 28th June, 1713, or if the southern reckoning be followed, it then falls in 1714 (17th June, 1714).
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§ Tod ii. 82, says Abhai Singh was made a Panj Hazari (5,000): Kamwar Khan 146, Warid fol. 150b, Kamraj 56a.