Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c42.s2.10

v3.c42.s2.10

Raja Mukund gave one of those brilliant instances of Rajput devotion to the principle of legitimate rule, so many of which illustrate his national history. When Aurangzeb formed his parricidal design to dethrone his father Shah Jahan, nearly every Rajput rallied round the throne of the aged monarch ; and the Rathors and the Haras were most conspicuous. The sons of Madho Singh, besides the usual ties of fidelity, forgot not that to Shah Jahan they owed their independence, and they determined to defend him to the death. In S. 1714, in the field near Ujjain, afterwards named by the victor Fatehabad, the five brothers led their vassals, clad in the saffron-stained garment, with the bridal maur (coronet) on their head, denoting death or victory.⁴ The imprudent intrepidity of the Rathor commander denied them the latter, but a [507] glorious death no power could prevent, and all the five brothers fell in one field. The youngest, Kishor Singh, was afterwards dragged from amidst the slain, and, though pierced with wounds, recovered. He was afterwards one of the most conspicuous of the intrepid Rajputs serving in the Deccan, and often attracted notice, especially in the capture of Bijapur. But the imperial princes knew not how to appreciate or to manage such men, who, when united under one who could control them, were irresistible.