Fall of the Mughal Empire v2.c28.s10.18

v2.c28.s10.18

The earliest expansion of the Bharatpur State was at the expense of its immediate neighbours on the north and west, in that ever-anarchical mosaic of fiefs and universal brigands’ den called Mewat.* The fame of Suraj Mal’s capacity for leadership and the tough fighting qualities of his troops spread rapidly, and there came repeated solicitations for his sword from the highest in the land. A Jat contingent accompanied the Emperor Muhammad Shah in his expedition against Ali Muhammad Ruhela (May 1745) and fought creditably in that inglorious campaign. In November next his support was hired by Fath Ali Khan (son of Sābit Khan, a famous governor of Aligarh), who had been robbed of some of his father’s estates by Asad Khan Khānahzād. In the battle near Chandausi that followed, Asad Khan was shot dead and the Jats gained a complete victory. Suraj Mal’s next achievement was to lead his father’s contingent of 10,000 horsemen in support of his feudal superior, Rajah Ishwari Singh of Jaipur, who had appealed for Jat aid when threatened by a Maratha invasion. In the battle of Bagru (August 1748) Suraj Mal led the Jaipur vanguard and fought most gallantly, defeating the Marathas opposed to him, though the campaign ultimately went against Ishwari Singh. Still greater fame was won by the prince of Bharatpur when, on 1 January 1750, he defeated and reduced to utter impotence the commanderin-chief of the Empire, Salabat Khan Mir Bakhshi, near Sarai Sobhāchānd. [Ch. 7 § 9.]