History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c49.s8: §8. Aurangzib annexes Marwar.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c49.s8
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§8. Aurangzib annexes Marwar.
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A strong force was sent into Marwar under Sarbuland Khan (17th August), and a fortnight later the Emperor himself started for Ajmir to direct the reconquest of the State. Anarchy and slaughter were let loose on the doomed province. The nationalist party was threatened by a host of enemies. The Parihars,—the dispossessed ancient lords of the land and the hereditary enemies of the Rathor interlopers,—tried to revive their historic kingdom of Gurjara-Pratihar by seizing Mandor, the ancient capital, 5 miles north of Jodhpur.
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The Emperor called up heavy reinforcements from the distant provinces, and took up his headquarters at Ajmir on 25th September, and though he himself spent the next month in comparative quiet for keeping the fast of Ramzan, his army advanced fighting under his son Muhammad Akbar. The Mughal Van was led by Tahawwur Khan, the *faujdar* of Ajmir. The Mairtia clan of Rathors, under one Raj Singh, barred his path in front of the temple of the Boar near the sacred lake of Pushkar, and a three days' continuous battle ended only with the extinction of the brave defenders after mounds of the dead had been piled up on both sides (19th August).[^ *]
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[^ *]: *Raj-vilas* calls the place Joginipur, and gives 28th August as the date of the battle, which according to this poem ended in a complete rout of the Mughals.
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This was the last pitched battle of the campaign; thereafter the Rajputs always carried on a guerilla warfare from their lurking places in the hills and desert. The Emperor now divided Marwar into districts over each of which a Mughal officer was placed as *faujdar* (end of October). The pretence of rule by a vassal Rajah was given up, and the State placed under the direct administration of the Crown.[*]
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Advancing north-west from Ajmir, Prince Akbar entered Marwar and forced his way to Mairta. His route is still marked by the cenotaphs of the Rathor heroes who tried to stem the tide of invasion with small bands of their brethren or personal retainers. But no resistance could stand against such odds, and the whole country was soon occupied by the foe. "As the cloud pours water upon the earth, so did Aurangzib pour his barbarians over the land... Jodhpur fell and was pillaged; and all the great towns in the plains of Mairta, Didwana, and Rohit, shared a similar fate. The emblems of religion were trampled under foot, the temples thrown down and mosques erected on their sites." But this policy of aggression and religious persecution, by provoking a natural reaction brought about its own failure; the Rathors and Sisodias united in defence of their common faith, the Maharana of Udaipur took up the cause of Ajit Singh, and the war entered on a new stage (end of November, 1679). [Tod, ii. ch. 7.]
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∗ *M.A.*, 179—182; *Ishwardas*, 76b; *Tod*, *ibid*. *Tahawwur* is the "Tyber" of *Tod*.
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§9. Maharana of Mewar’s relations with the Emperor.
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Ever since the time of Jahangir, the chief of Mewar had been loyal to the Mughal throne. True, he had never personally appeared at Court to make his bow among the vassals of the empire. But the imperial dignity had been satisfied with his rendering such homage by deputy,—usually through a son or a younger brother. Every now and then the Maharana had sent agents to the Emperor with complimentary gifts, and had received robes of honour, elephants, jewellery and royal letters in return. A contingent of his troops had occasionally fought in the imperial ranks, as was the duty of all feudatories. Late in the reign cf Shah Jahan (1654), he had fortified Chitor in violation of treaty; but the presumption had been promptly punished : a Mughal army under the wazir Sadullah Khan had dismantled the fort and forced the refractory Maharana to offer an apology. [Waris, 90b—93a.]
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But now the lord of Udaipur had to choose between rebellion and the loss of whatever is dearest to man. The Mughal annexation of Marwar turned his left flank and exposed his country to invasion through the Aravali passes on its western side, while the eastern half of his State, being comparatively level, lay as open to a foe as before. The mountain fastness of Kamalmir, which had sheltered Pratap during the dark days of Akbar's invasion, would now cease to be an impregnable refuge to his successor. The annexation of Marwar was but the preliminary to an easy conquest of Mewar. Besides, Aurangzib's campaign of temple destruction was not likely to stop within the imperial dominions. He had demolished and wantonly desecrated the holiest Hindu shrines at Benares, Mathura and Somnath. In Rajputana itself, even before the death of Jaswant gave him any pretext for interference, he had pulled down the great temples of Khandela and Sanula and "all other temples" there, while after Jaswant's death, the Mughal occupation of his capital had been signalized by the wanton demolition of its temples and the public desecration of their idols. [M.A. 173.] On the revival of the jaziya tax, a demand for its enforcement throughout his State had been sent to the Maharana. [K. K. ii. 261.] If the Sisodias did not stand by the Rathors now, the two clans would be crushed piecemeal, and the whole of Rajasthan would lie helpless under the tyrant's feet. So thought Maharana Raj Singh, and so thought his clansmen, many of whom had already fraternized with the Rathor refugees in the Godwar district and opposed the Mughals under Tahawwur Khan. [Ishwardas, 77b.] The mother of Ajit Singh was a Mewar princess, and Raj Singh could not, either as a kinsman or as a knight, reject her appeal to defend the orphan's rights.