Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c28.s1.t2.47

v2.c28.s1.t2.47

The Assassination of the Sayyids. Ajīt Singh asserts his Independence.—“ The rains of 1777 set in, and Jai Singh and Budh Singh remained with Ajit, when a messenger arrived with tidings that the Moguls had assassinated the Sayyids, and were now on the watch for Ajit.¹ He drew his sword, and swore he would possess himself of Ajmer. He dismissed the lord of Amber. In twelve days after Ajit reached Merta. In the face of day he drove the Muslim from Ajmer and made it his own. He slew the king’s governor and seized on Taragarh.² Once more the bell of prayers was heard in the temple, while the bang ³ of the Masjid was silent. Where the Koran was read, the Puran was now heard, and the Mandir took the place of the Mosque. The Kazi made way for the Brahman, and the pit of burnt sacrifice (homa) was dug, where the sacred kine were slain. He took possession of the salt lakes of Sambhar and Didwana, and the records were always moist with inserting fresh conquests. Ajit ascended his own throne; the umbrella of supremacy he waved over his head. He coined in his own name, established his own gaz (measure), and ser (weight), his own courts of justice, and a new scale of rank for his chiefs, with nalkis and mace-bearers, naubats and standards, and every emblem of sovereign rule. Ajmall in Ajmer was equal to Aspati in Delhi.⁴ The intelligence spread over the land; it reached even Mecca and Iran, that Ajit had exalted his own faith, while the rites of Islam were prohibited throughout the land of Maru.