History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c82.s2: § 2. Jat rising under Rajaram, 1685-1688.
History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c82.s2
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§ 2. Jat rising under Rajaram, 1685-1688.
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Fifteen years now passed in peace. And then the opportunity created by the Emperor's Deccan invasion was seized by two new leaders of the Jats, Rajaram and Ramchehra, the petty zamindars of Sinsani and Sogar.* These were the first to challenge the forces of the empire and train their clansmen in group organisation and open warfare. Every Jat peasant was practised in wielding the staff and the sword; they had only to be embodied in regiments, taught to obey their captains, and supplied with fire-arms to make them into an army.
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* Sinsani 16 m. n. w. of Bharatpur, and 8 m. s. of Deeg (Ind. Atlas, 50 N. E.). Sogar spelt (Sogghair in the Fr. MS.) is 4 miles due north of Bharatpur and 14 m. e. of Sinsani, and the home of the Sogoria branch of the Jats.
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A French MS. account of the Jats preserved in the India Office, London, (Orme MSS. vol. 216, no. 2, copy in vol. 15, no. 11), and ascribed to Father Francois Xavier Wendel, is the only source that mentions Ramchehra. Churaman is spoken of by Ishwardas (Fatuhat, 135 b) as a son of the brother of Rajaram, but all other authorities known to me are silent about his relationship with the latter. A Persian work used by W. Irvine names Bhajja as the father of Churaman (Later Mughals, i. 322). Life of Churaman (mostly after Aurangzib's death) in M. U. i. 540-548. The fullest history of the Jat wars in Aurangzib's later years is given by Ishwardas (131b-133a, 134a, 137b, 164b), with some confusion of persons and dates, which I have corrected from the authentic but meagre official history, Masir-i-Alamgiri.
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As bases for their operations, refuges for their chiefs in defeat, and storing places for booty, they built several small forts (*garhi*) amidst their almost trackless jungle, and strengthened them with mud walls that could defy artillery.
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Then they began to raid the king's highway and carry their depredations to the suburbs of Agra.
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The bloody suppression of Gokla Jat had become a faded memory in the course of the next 16 years, and by 1686 a generation of Jat young men had arisen who had not tasted the sword of Hassan Ali Khan.
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Rajaram's lawless activities could not be checked by Safi Khan, the governor of Agra. The Jat gangs closed the roads to traffic, and after plundering many villages of the district, Rajaram moved towards Sikandra, wishing to rob Akbar's tomb there of its costly decorations. The faujdar of the place (Mir Abul Fazl) fought him with very inferior forces, and though he was wounded with most of his followers, he succeeded in turning the rebel back, who marched by way of Shikarpur to Ratanpur, sacking both these places.
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Rajaram soon showed even greater audacity. The renowned Turani warrior Aghar Khan was going from Kabul to the Emperor's camp at Bijapur. Near Dholpur, as his troops were marching carelessly and without order, a large party of Jats suddenly fell on his baggage and carried off some carts, horses and women. The Khan, without making any proper arrangement or concerted plan, impetuously galloped in pursuit of the raiders, at the head of a small force, and overtook them five miles off. Here the Jats turned at bay and killed Aghar Khan and his son-in-law with 80 of their followers.[*]
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As early as May 1686, Aurangzib had recognised the gravity of the situation by detaching against the Jats a great general, Khan-i-Jahan Kokaltash Zafar Jang (M. A. 274). Now the success of Rajaram and the failure of Khan-i-Jahan thoroughly alarmed the Emperor, and in December he ordered his son Azam to go there and command the operations in person. But the prince had only reached Burhanpur, when he was recalled to the Emperor's side by the more pressing need of retrieving Mughal prestige before Golkonda (July, 1687). The prince's eldest son, Bidar Bakht, a gallant lad of 17, was however sent (in December, 1687), to assume the supreme command in the Jat war, while Khan-i-Jahan was to continue as his adviser and chief officer [M. A. 298, 311 ; K. K. 316, 395].
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But before the prince could arrive, the Jat leader committed more atrocities. Early in 1688, Mir Ibrahim of Haidarabad (newly entitled Mahabat Khan) was marching to his viceroyalty of the Panjab. Near Sikandra he was encamped on the bank of the Jamuna, when Rajaram attacked him, but was repulsed after a long and stubborn fight with the loss of 400 men, while the Mughals lost 190 in killed and wounded. Rajaram soon returned to the scene, and profiting by the delay in the coming of Shaista Khan, the new subahdar of Agra, he plundered Akbar's tomb,* taking away its carpets, gold and silver vessels, &c., and damaging the building. Khan-i-Jahan did nothing to check him.
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∗ Ishwardas, 164b. The Jat loss in this action is given by him as 200. Khafi Khan (ii. 395), however, says that Aghar Khan rescued his women and then assaulted the garhi in which the Jats had taken refuge, but was shot dead.
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Bidar Bakht, on his arrival, infused greater vigour into the Mughal operations. At this time an internecine war was raging between the Shekhawat and Chauhan clans of Rajputs for lands in the Bagtharia and some other parganas. The Chauhans enlisted the support of Rajaram, while the Shekhawats gained the armed help of the Mughal faujdar of Mewat. A severe battle was fought between them near the village of Bijal. The Rajputs grappled with one another in deadly animosity, and many were slain on both sides. In the thick of the contest Rajaram was shot dead by a Mughal musketeer hiding in a tree (4 July, 1688).†
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∗ Ishwardas, 132b. Manucci (ii. 320) adds: "They began their pillage by breaking in the great gates of bronze which it had, robbing the valuable precious stones and plates of gold and silver, and destroying what they were not able to carry away. Dragging out the bones of Akbar, they threw them angrily into the fire and burnt them."
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† This is based upon Ishwardas (134b), with date from M. A.
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³¹¹ The Fr. MS., however, says: "Ramchehra fell into the prince's hands, and Rajaram, dangerously wounded in
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§ 3. Rajah Bishun Singh suppresses the Jats, 1690.
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Bishun Singh Kachhwa, the new Rajah of Amber (Jaipur), was appointed by the Emperor as faujdar of Mathura with a special charge to root out the Jats and take Sinsani as his own jagir. [Ishwar, 133a; the farman appointing him is preserved in Jaipur, as also is another on the same terms issued to Ram Singh just before his death.] He gave the Emperor a written undertaking to demolish the fort of Sinsani [Ishwar, 139a, 135b], as he was burning to distinguish himself and win a high mansab like his father Ram Singh and grandfather Mirza Rajah Jai Singh. Bidar Bakht laid siege to Sinsani. But the campaign in the jungles of the Jat country severely taxed the invading army. The Mughals before Sinsani had to undergo great hardship from scarcity of provisions
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the pursuit, .........died of his wounds shortly afterwards. Ramchehra's head was cut off at Agra and publicly exposed on the great gate in front of the fort, above the bazar."
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The official historian and Ishwardas alike ignore Ramchehra and say that it was Rajaram whose head was cut off and sent to the Emperor at Bijapur, where it arrived on 5th Sep. 1688. (M. A. 312.)
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Bagtharia—There is a Bagthala, 24 m. n. e. of Alwar and 14 m. n. w. of Firuzpur of Gurgaon. (Ind. At. 50 N. W.)
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Bijal—There is a village named Bijwar, on the old bed of the Suabi river, 18 m. s. of Rewari and 4 m. s. of the small town of Shahjahanpur (Ind. At. 49 S. W.) Tijara, 20 m. e. of Bijwar.
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Ishwardas (137a and b) says that Sogar was taken immediately after Sinsani and that 'the rebel' was captured at the former place. This is wrong.
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and water, as the enemy by frequent attacks cut off their grain-convoys and watering parties. Incessant night-attacks kept the siege-camp in perpetual alarm. "The men were prostrated by hunger, and the animals perished in large numbers through weakness." But the besiegers held tenaciously on, and in four months carried their trenches to the gate of the fort, mounted guns on raised platforms, and laid mines. The jungle round the fort was cleared. One mine under the gate was fired; but the Jats having previously detected it and blocked its further side with stones, the charge was driven backwards, destroying many of the artillerymen and supervising officers of the Mughal army. A second mine was then laid and carried under the wall in a month's time. It was successfully fired (end of January 1690), the wall was breached, the Jat defenders lining it were blown up, and the Mughals stormed the fort after three hours of stubborn opposition. The Jats disputed every inch of the ground and were dispersed only after losing 1500 of their men. On the imperial side, 200 Mughals fell and 700 Rajputs were slain or wounded. The remnant of the garrison was put to the sword. [Ishwardas 136b-137a; M. A. 334; Hamid-ud-din's Ahkam, §26.]
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Next year (21st May, 1691) Rajah Bishun Singh surprised the other Jat stronghold of Sogar. "The Rajah hastened there with the imperial army. By chance, as the gate of this little fort was kept open at the time for admitting grain, the invaders entered it at the gallop, slaying all who raised their hands and taking 500 of the rebels prisoner." [Ishwar, 137 *a* and *b* ; *M. A.*, 340.]