CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI MAHARAJ - THE LEGEND

He founded the Hindu kingdom in the Deccan against all odds , fighting against the mighty Mughals.He inspired and united the common man to fight against the tyranny of Mughal ruler Aurangjeb, by inculcating a sense of pride and nationality in them. At the age of 16, he took a pledge to establish a sovereign Hindu state.He clearly outstands all the rulers and generals of India by the exemplary life he lived and is thus respected by the entire cross section of Indians. Shivaji's military skills could be compared to those of Napolean. He raised a strong army and navy, constructed and repaired forts, used gureilla warfare tactics,developed a strong intelligence network,gave equal treatment to the people from all religions and castes based on merit, and functioned like a seasoned Statesman and General. He appointed ministers with specific functions such as Internal security,Foreign affairs,Finance,Law and Justice,Religious matters,Defence etc. He introduced systems in revenue collection and warned the officials against harassment of subjects.He thought ahead of times and was a true visionary.In his private life, his moral virtues were exceptionally high.His thoughts and deeds were inspired by the teachings of his mother Jijabai,teacher Dadaji Konddev,great saints like Dnyaneshwar & Tukaram and the valiancy and ideals of the Lords Rama and Krishna. The tiny kingdom established by Chhatrapati Shivaji known as "Hindavi Swaraja" (Sovereign Hindu state) grew and spread beyond Attock in Northwest India (now in Pakistan)and beyond Cuttack in East India in course of time, to become the strongest power in India. After the death of Chhatrapati Shivaji & his son Sambhaji, their prime ministers or ‘the Peshwas' became the defacto rulers. The Peshwas and the Maratha Sardars (Chieftans) like Shindes of Gwalior, Gaekwads of Baroda & Holkars of Indore contributed to the growth of the Maratha Confederacy.

Born: May 9, 1540 in Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan

Father's Name: Maharana Udai Singh II

Mother's Name: Rani Jeevant Kanwar

Died: January 29, 1597 in Chavand
Maharana Pratap was born on May 9th 1540 in Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan। His father was Maharana Udai Singh II and his mother was Rani Jeevant Kanwar. Maharana Udai Singh II ruled the kingdom of Mewar, with his capital at Chittor. Maharana Pratap was the eldest of twenty-five sons and hence given the title of Crown Prince. He was destined to be the 54th ruler of Mewar, in the line of the Sisodiya Rajputs.

In 1567, when Crown Prince Pratap Singh was only 27, Chittor was surrounded by the Mughal forces of Emperor Akbar. Maharana Udai Singh II decided to leave Chittor and move his family to Gogunda, rather than capitulate to the Mughals. The young Pratap Singh wanted to stay back and fight the Mughals but the elders intervened and convinced him to leave Chittor, oblivious of the fact that this move from Chittor was going to create history for all times to come.
In Gogunda, Maharana Udai Singh II and his nobles set up a temporary government of the kindom of Mewar. In 1572, the Maharana passed away, leaving the way for Crown Prince Pratap Singh to become the Maharana. However, in his later years, the late Maharana Udai Singh II had fallen under the influence of his favorite queen, Rani Bhatiyani, and had willed that her son Jagmal should ascend to the throne. As the late Maharana's body was being taken to the cremation grounds, Pratap Singh, the Crown Prince decided to accompany the dead body of the Maharana. This was a departure from tradition as the Crown Prince did not accompany the body of the departed Maharana but instead prepared to ascend the throne, such that the line of succession remained unbroken. Pratap Singh, in deference to his father's wishes, decided to let his half-brother Jagmal become the next king. However, knowing this to be disastrous for Mewar, the late Maharana's nobles, especially the Chundawat Rajputs, forced Jagmal to leave the throne to Pratap Singh. Unlike Bharat, Jagmal did not willingly give up the throne. He swore revenge and left for Ajmer, to join the armies of Akbar, where he was offered a jagir - the town of Jahazpur - in return for his help. Meanwhile, Crown Prince Pratap Singh became Maha Rana Pratap Singh I, 54th ruler of Mewar in the line of the Sisodiya Rajputs.
The year was 1572. Pratap Singh had just become the Maharana of Mewar and he had not been back in Chittor since 1567. His old fort and his home beckoned to him. The pain of his father's death, and the fact that his father had not been able to see Chittor again, troubled the young Maharana deeply. But he was not the only one troubled at this time. Akbar had control of Chittor but not the kingdom of Mewar. So long as the people of Mewar swore by their Maharana, Akbar could not realize his ambition of being the Jahanpanah of Hindustan. He had sent several emissaries to Mewar to get Rana Pratap to agree to sign a treaty but the letter was only willing to sign a peace treaty whereby the sovereignty of Mewar would be intact. In the course of the year 1573, Akbar sent six diplomatic missions to Mewar to get Rana Pratap to agree to the former's suzerainty but Rana Pratap turned down each one of them. The last of these missions was headed by Raja Man Singh, the brother-in-law of Akbar himself. Maharana Pratap, angered that his fellow Rajput was aligned with someone who had forced the submission of all Rajputs, refused to sup with Raja Man Singh. The lines were completely drawn now - Akbar understood that Maharana Pratap would never submit and he would have to use his troops against Mewar.
With the failure of efforts to negotiate a peace treaty in 1573, Akbar blockaded Mewar from the rest of the world and alienated Mewar's traditional allies, some of whom were Maharana Pratap's own kith and kin. Akbar then tried to turn the people of the all-important Chittor district against their king so they would not help Pratap. He appointed Kunwar Sagar Singh, a younger brother of Pratap, to rule the conquered territory, However, Sagar, regretting his own treachery, soon returned from Chittor, and committed suicide with a dagger in the Mughal Court. Shakti Singh, Pratap's younger brother now with the Mughal army, is said to have fled the Mughal court temporarily and warned his brother of Akbar's actions.
In preparation for the inevitable war with the Mughals, Maharana Pratap altered his administration. He moved his capital to Kumbhalgarh, where he was born. He commanded his subjects to leave for the Aravali mountains and leave behind nothing for the approaching enemy - the war would be fought in a mountain terrain which the Mewar army was used to but not the Mughals. It is a testament to the young king's respect amongst his subjects that they obeyed him and left for the mountains. The Bhils of the Aravalis were completely behind him. The army of Mewar now raided Mughal trade caravans going from Delhi to Surat. A section of his army guarded the all important Haldighati Pass, the only way to get into Udaipur from the North. Maharana Pratap himself undertook several penances, not because his finances forced him to do so, but because he wished to remind himself, and all his subjects, why they were undertaking this pain - to win back their freedom, their right to exist as they wished. He foreswore that he would eat from leaf-plates, would sleep on the floor and would not shave. In his self-inflicted state of penury, the Maharana lived in mud-huts made from mud and bamboo.
In 1576, the famous battle of Haldighati was fought with 20,000 Rajputs against a Mughal army of 80,000 men commanded by Raja Man Singh. The battle was fierce though indecisive, to the Mughal army's astonishment. Maharana Pratap's army was not defeated but Maharana Pratap was surrounded by Mughal soldiers. It is said that at this point, his estranged brother, Shakti Singh, appeared and saved the Rana's life. Another casualty of this war was Maharana Pratap's famous, and loyal, horse Chetak, who gave up his life trying to save his Maharana.
After this war, Akbar tried several times to take over Mewar, failing each time. Maharana Pratap himself was keeping up his quest for taking Chittor back. However, the relentless attacks of the Mughal army had left his army weaker, and he barely had enough money to keep it going. It is said that at this time, one of his ministers, Bhama Shah, came and offered him all this wealth - a sum enabling Maharana Pratap to support an army of 25,000 for 12 years. It is said that before this generous gift from Bhama Shah, Maharana Pratap, anguished at the state of his subjects, was beginning to lose his spirit in fighting Akbar.

In one incident that caused him extreme pain, his children's meal - bread made from grass - was stolen by a dog. It is said that this cut into Maharana Pratap's heart deeply. He began to have doubts about his resolute refusal to submit to the Mughals. Perhaps in one of these moments of self doubt - something each and every human being goes through - Maharana Pratap wrote to Akbar demanding "a mitigation of his hardship". Overjoyed at this indication of his valiant foe's submission, Akbar commanded public rejoicing, and showed the letter to a literate Rajput at his Court, Prince Prithiraj. He was the younger brother of Rai Singh, the ruler of Bikaner, a State established some eighty years earlier by the Rathores of Marwar. He had been compelled to serve Akbar because of his kingdom's submission to the Mughals. An award-winning poet, Prithiraj was also a gallant warrior and a longtime admirer of the brave Maharana Pratap Singh. He was astonished and grieved by Maharana Pratap's decision, and told Akbar the note was the forgery of some foe to defame the Mewar king. "I know him well," he explained, "and he would never submit to your terms." He requested and obtained Akbar's permission to send a letter to Pratap, ostensibly to ascertain the fact of his submission, but really with a view to prevent it. He composed the couplets that have become famous in the annals of patriotism:
The hopes of the Hindu rest on the Hindu; yet the Rana forsakes them. But for Pratap, all would be placed on the same level by Akbar; for our chiefs have lost their valour and our females their honour. Akbar is the broker in the market of our race: he has purchased all but the son of Udai (Singh II of Mewar); he is beyond his price. What true Rajput would part with honour for nine days (nauroza); yet how many have bartered it away? Will Chittor come to this market ...? Though Patta (an affectionate name for Pratap Singh) has squandered away wealth (on warfare), yet he has preserved this treasure. Despair has driven man to this market, to witness their dishonour: from such infamy the descendant of Hamir (Hamir Singh) alone has been preserved. The world asks, from where does the concealed aid of Pratap emanate? None but the soul of manliness and his sword ... The broker in the market of men (Akbar) will one day be surpassed; he cannot live forever. Then will our race come to Pratap, for the seed of the Rajput to sow in our desolate lands. To him all look for its preservation, that its purity may again become resplendent.
The now-famous letter led to Pratap reversing his decision and not submitting to the Mughals, as was his initial but reluctant intention. After 1587, Akbar relinquished his obsessive pursuit of Maharana Pratap and took his battles into Punjab and India's Northwest Frontier. Thus for the last ten years of his life, Maharana Pratap ruled in relative peace and eventually freed most of Mewar, including Udaipur and Kumbhalgarh, but not Chittor. Bhagwat Singh Mewar: "Maharana Pratap Singh (was) called the light and life of the Hindu community. There were times when he and his family and children ate bread made of grass." Maharana Pratap became a patron of the Arts. During his reign Padmavat Charita and the poems of Dursa Ahada were written. Palaces at Ubheshwar, Kamal Nath and Chavand bear testimony to his love of architecture. These buildings, built in the dense hilly forest have walls adorned with military-style architecture. But Pratap's broken spirit overpowered him in the twilight of his years. His last moments were an appropriate commentary on his life, when he swore his successor, Crown Prince Amar Singh to eternal conflict against the foes of his country's independence. Maharana Pratap was never able to win back Chittor but he never gave up fighting to win it back.
In January 1597, Rana Pratap Singh I, Mewar's greatest hero, was seriously injured in a hunting accident. He left his body at Chavand, aged 56, on January 29, 1597. He died fighting for his nation, for his people, and most importantly for his honor.

¤ The Marathas Supplant the Mughals

However, poison achieved what the sword could not। Madhu Singh, queen of Amber was entrusted with the task of removing the enemy of her nephew Ram Singh. She presented Bukhta with a poisoned robe leading to his death in 1753. Meanwhile the Marathas were fast supplanting the Mughals as the pre-eminent power in India, and in conjunction with the prince of Amber, Ram Singh concluded a treaty with the Marathas to depose Bukhta’s son and heir Vijay Singh from Jodhpur. Ram Singh was able to vanquish the young Vijay thanks to a rumour circulated by his minister among the enemy that Vijay had been shot by a cannon. It was a tactic which invariably worked against the Rajputs, and as his army ran helter-skelter, the young Vijay was left virtually defenceless. Thus Ram Singh reclaimed the throne of Jodhpur but not without cost, as it led to the Marathas spreading their tentacles in Rajputana. Ajmer was ceded to them and a fixed triennial tribute on all lands of Marwar both feudal and fiscal had to be paid.From then on Jodhpur’s independence was never really secure and Ram Singh finally died in exile in 1773 in Jaipur. Historians agree that both in exterior and in his accomplishments he compared favourably with the great Ajit, and in his later years he was much mellowed, with much of his early irascibility, a thing of the past. His death meant the Marathas had free run of the land and they missed no opportunity to plunder. Vijay Singh was too callow and without resources to resist the Maratha might, and ruinous wars followed by humiliating negotiations dissipated the wealth of Marwar completely. Indeed the situation was so chaotic that an exasparated prince Devi Singh of Pokhran once remarked " Why trouble yourself about Marwar? It is in the sheath of my dagger." and although Vijay Singh in league with Pratap Singh of Amber recovered Ajmer temporarily from the Marathas at the battle of Tonga in 1787, But the Maratha Scindia won it back four years later and Ajmer was lost to Marwar forever. and in his last few years Vijay was enmeshed with a young beauty from the Oswal tribe which created such a scandal that it almost led to his dethronement.

¤ Man Singh’s Fortunes Rise

The conflict however led to enormous turmoil in Jodhpur, leading to slicing up Vijay Singh’s dominions. and with his sons and grandsons in rival camps thanks to the folly of Vijay Singh’s ways, he died a disillusioned man having reigned for 31 years. Barely 22 hours after his death his grandson Bhim Singh seated himself on Jodhpur’s gaddi (throne), dismissing the legitimate claims of Vijay’s sons Zalim and Sur Singh. However the throne of Jodhpur merely whetted his appetite and his next target was Pali. A protracted siege lasting eleven years followed, during which the garrison was valiantly defended by Man Singh, (the adopted son of Vijay Singh and his young mistress). Just as Man and his men were on the verge of capitulation news filtered through of Bhim Singh’s death. From then on Man’s fortunes ascended and very soon he occupied Jodhpur. It is said that Man’s fortune was predicted by a seer who prophesied ‘that at the very zero of adversity his stars would rise’.However he made a very powerful enemy in Sawai Singh of Pokhran, whose dagger would remain suspended over his head from his coronation to Sawai’s death bed like the ‘sword of Damocles.’ It was only a matter of time before Sawai Singh the pretender to the throne of Marwar assembled a large army, which along with the support of the rulers of Jaipur, Mewar and Ambar beseiged the Jodhpur fort. He would have succeeded too, had it not been for the valour of Mir Khan, the generalissimo of Man’s army who created divisions within the ranks of Jodhpur’s opponents and broke up the seige. He defeated the army of Jaipur so comprehensively that Maharaja Jagat Singh had to pay a sum of 200,000 pounds to secure his safe passage.In honour of Man’s victory over Jaipur the Jai Pol, or victory gate was built in the fort in 1808. It was also the end of the road for Sawai Singh, as Mir after inviting him to his quarters slaughtered him with 500 of his followers. The heads of the most distinguished were then sent to Raja Man. However Man’s victory over his rivals was not an unmixed blessing; the flip side was that Mir Khan was virtually the arbiter of Marwar. and with the death of his only son Chattar Singh, Raja Man lost all interest in affairs of the state and was deemed to be certifiably insane. However, although officially he was said to be suffering from melancholy mania, many believed it to be an act to escape the snares laid for his life. Governance of Jodhpur was in the interim carried out by Salim Singh (son of Sawai Singh). But Raja Man remained until the British arrived in 1818 and concluded a treaty with Jodhpur under which the district became a protectorate of the British. With the British came political stability and a modicum of prosperity and relations between the Anglo-Saxons and the house of Jodhpur were relatively cordial.

¤ Jodhpur Reclaimed From the Mughals

Ultimately Ajit Singh proved to be an even greater ruler than his father and was one of the most distinguished princes to grace the throne of Jodhpur। He inherited his father’s hatred for the very word Muslim but that was natural for someone who was born amidst the snows of Kabul and deprived at birth of his parents. He also inherited his father’s valour, which he first displayed at the early age of 11 when he visited his enemy’s capital displaying the courtesy which only a Rajput can. He along with Jai Singh of Jaipur and Amar Singh of Mewar were instrumental in throwing out the Mughals from Jodhpur as well as Amber. His hatred of the Mughals was further fuelled when he was forced to give one his daughters to the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyyar in marriage. However he gained the viceroyalty of Gujarat as a result, and was also instrumental in getting the hated jaziya repealed for which the Hindus owed him an eternal debt. He then entered into an agreement with the Sayyid brothers at the Mughal court to get rid of the emperor Farrukhsiyyar, which they did successfully in 1719. and it speaks volumes for the degeneration of the Mughals after Aurangzeb, that none among them came forward to rescue their emperor. Farrukhsiyyar remains the only Mughal king ever to be assassinated. In turn the Sayyid brothers were killed themselves, as court intrigues held full sway at the imperial court with the Mughals becoming increasingly corrupt and debauched. Ajit, aware of the vice-ridden Mughal court, was determined himself to capture Ajmer from them and did so by slaying the king’s governor. He ascended the throne of Ajmer and where the Koran was read, the Puran (a set of 18 books containing Hindu legends) was now heard. Ajit issued coins in his own name, established his own weights and measures and his own courts of justice. The reputation of Ajit spread far and wide, even to distant Persia and Mecca that he had exalted his own faith. The rites of The Koran were prohibited throughout the land of Marwar.

¤ Father Assassinated by Son

Eventually the great Ajit’s life ended with a crime most foul – he was murdered by his own son Abhay Singh, who was anointed king by the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah himself। With Ajit’s demise passed away the golden period of Jodhpur’s history, and the next century as we shall see was full of trials and tribulations. Abhay Singh had very little time for festivities, soon he involved himself with the consolidation of his fiefdom. He bestowed the principality of Nagaur on his brother Bukhta and then installed his officers in Ajmer of which he was the viceroy. However, Nagaur was too limited a field for someone of Bukhta’s talents, and with Abhay becoming an opium addict towards his latter years, he felt increasingly insecure by his brother’s influence. The sibling rivalry reached its head when Abhay refused to help Bukhta when he attacked the kingdom of Amber. It says something for the Rajput character that they failed to unite even when they had the chance of overthrowing the Mughals, their internecine battles cost them the Delhi Durbar (court).This was the time of Muhammad Shah’s reign, who because of his addiction to wine and women was given the epithet Rangila (colourful). Nadir Shah the Persian sacked Delhi in 1739, looted its treasures and decamped with among other things the peacock throne of Shah Jahan. Unfortunately for Rajputana, the demoralisation of their princes did not enable them to take advantage of the profligacy of the Mughals. Perhaps it was the murder of Ajit Singh which serves to illustrate the great moral truth- that in every stage of civilisation crime will work out its own punishment. Ram Singh, son of Abhay succeeded the throne of Jodhpur but his uncle Bukhta did not attend his coronation. Ram Singh had inherited the same impetuous temper as his predecessors and it was inevitable that he and Bukhta would soon be at loggerheads. The battle between the two was bloody leading to the annihilation of Ram Singh’s army, forcing the Jodhpur ruler to flee. Bukhta anointed himself ruler of the desert city, and with the support of other clans of Marwar, he felt secure against the machinations of his nephew.

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¤ Relations Turned Strain between the Mughal & Jadhpur

Proximity to the Mughal court led to art and culture flourishing in Jodhpur as well as trade and commerce with the establishment of relative peace। But relations between the Mughals and Jodhpur took a turn for the worse during Jaswant Singh’s reign when he backed the wrong prince in 1658 during the battle of succession between Shah Jahan’s sons. His loathing for Aurangzeb led him to back Dara, and despite Jaswant’s defeat at Fatehbad when he was commanding the army opposed to Aurangzeb he never really reconciled himself to his rule. For 25 years he was a thorn in the Mughal emperor’s flesh until Aurangzeb ordered him to Kabul to duel with the Afghans whence he never returned. He left Jodhpur in the hands of his son Prithvi, who in turn was put paid to by Aurangzeb by giving him a poisoned robe. James Tod says of Jaswant Singh ‘that had his ability been commensurate with his power, strength and courage he could have with the aid of Aurangzeb’s numerous other enemies have got rid of the emperor’.

¤ A Matter of Chivalry

An example of Rajput pride in their valour can be ascertained from the conduct of Jaswant’s queen when he retreated after the battle of Fatehbad। Even though he brought back his shield and it can be said his honour as well, she barred the city's gates on her fugitive lord। Though eventually wifely love forced her to relent the incident typified the Rajput attitude of preferring a heroic death to a cowardly retreat. Jaswant Singh had ascended the throne of Jodhpur in a most unusual manner. His father Gaj Singh’s mistress Angoori Bai had once been presented with a pair of pearl shoes by Jaswant Singh, after kneeling down before her in supplication. In return Angoori prevailed upon Gaj Singh to anoint Jaswant as his successor over the head of his elder brother Amar Singh, the rightful heir to the throne. It was a typical case of ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ and Angoori Bai can be said to have changed the course of 17 th century Jodhpur history by helping to install Jaswant to the Jodhpur to the throne.

¤ An Assassination Folied

Meanwhile Aurangzeb’s religious bigotry had the impact of alienating all of the Rajputs whom Akbar had so carefully cultivated. After the imposition of the much hated jaziya or religious tax on the Hindus in 1679, he was determined to do away with Jaswant’s infant son Ajit Singh, after Jaswant’s death in 1681. However, that was prevented by one of Rajputana’s greatest heroes Durga Das who smuggled the posthumous child out of Marwar in a basket of sweetmeats. An enraged Aurangzeb retaliated by sacking Jodhpur, destroying numerous Hindu temples and demanding the conversion of the Rajput race to Islam. The attitude of the emperor led to the entire Rajput clan becoming implacable enemies of the Mughals, and from then on they were merely biding their time to throw off the Mughal imperialist yoke. The opportunity presented itself with Aurangzeb’s death in 1707 at the grand old age of 89. His successor, Bahadur Shah was 63 himself when he ascended the imperial throne and soon earned for himself the sobriquet of Shahi Bekhabar (heedless king) for his disinterest in affairs of the state.Perfect chance for Ajit Singh, now grown up who with the help of Durga Das formed a triple alliance with Udaipur and Jaipur to reclaim what was rightfully his – the gaddi (throne) of Jodhpur.

¤ A Narrow victory

However Babur found nothing to tempt him in the infertile lands of Marwar and Jodhpur managed to retain its autonomy. In fact under Raja Maldeo, Jodhpur managed to extend its sphere of influence considerably in the latter half of the 16 th century. He acquired Nagore and Ajmer and later Jalore, and even managed to dispossess Bika’s (founder of Bikaner) heirs from supreme power in Bikaner. Meanwhile Sher Shah Suri, the Afghan had dispossessed Mughal emperor Humayun from the throne of Delhi, whence he fled to Marwar to seek refuge but received a cold shoulder from Maldeo. However, Maldeo received no advantage from his inhospitality, and Sher Shah possibly out of insecurity from his southern neighbour marched on Marwar with 80,000 men to be met by a Rajput army of fifty thousand. Where thanks to the old Rajput vice of squabbling with each other the Delhi Sultan achieved a narrow victory. But it was a ‘narrow victory’ at best as the Sultan himself remarked afterwards: "I nearly lost the empire of Hindustan for a handful of barley."What is interesting is that the Jodhpur coat-of- arms apart from depicting the sacred kite of goddess Durga and the Rathore war cry Ranbanka Rathore (Rathore invincible in battle) also portrays a handful of barley- signifying Sher Shah’s famous words. Maldeo was destined to outlive the Sher Shahi dynasty but Humayun returned from exile to reclaim his kingdom and after his death in 1556 it was the 13 year old Akbar (destined to become one of the greatest of Indian kings) who ascended the Mughal throne.

¤ Jodhpur Placates akbar

The relations between Jodhpur and the imperial house were further cemented by the Marriage of Jodha Bai, sister of Udai Singh with the Mughal emperor, Akbar thenceforth returned all possessions he had seized from Marwar sans Ajmer। Jodhpur hereafter assisted Akbar in many of his conquests and Sur Singh who succeeded Udai, served with the imperial forces in Lahore and was instrumental in capturing Gujarat and much of Deccan for Akbar. While Raja Gaj Singh son and heir of Sur Singh played a key role in putting down the rebellion of prince Khurram (later to become emperor Shah Jahan) against his father Jahangir. It is reported that Jahangir was so pleased with the loyalty of the Rathore prince, that he not only took him by the hand but kissed it- a most unusual gesture for a Mughal emperor.Akbar clearly had a score to settle as the non-cooperation of Jodhpur had led him to spend his childhood in faraway Amarkot rather than the princely comforts of Delhi and he invaded Marwar in 1561 and captured both Jodhpur and the Nagore fort. The two forts he handed to Rai Singh of Bikaner now independent of Jodhpur. Maldeo was forced to swallow his pride, and tried to win over Akbar by sending him gifts through his second son Chandra Sen. However all the wiles of Chandra Sen failed to sway the Akbar and eventually it was his elder brother Udai Singh who managed to ingratiate himself with the emperor. The unkindest cut of all came when he was forced to pay homage to his elder son Udai Singh, who was appointed by Akbar, and this ended the freedom of Jodhpur which became a vassal state of the Mughals.

¤ The Union Between the Mughals & Jodhpur

The relations between Jodhpur and the imperial house were further cemented by the Marriage of Jodha Bai, sister of Udai Singh with the Mughal emperor, Akbar thenceforth returned all possessions he had seized from Marwar sans Ajmer. Jodhpur hereafter assisted Akbar in many of his conquests and Sur Singh who succeeded Udai, served with the imperial forces in Lahore and was instrumental in capturing Gujarat and much of Deccan for Akbar. While Raja Gaj Singh son and heir of Sur Singh played a key role in putting down the rebellion of prince Khurram (later to become emperor Shah Jahan) against his father Jahangir. It is reported that Jahangir was so pleased with the loyalty of the Rathore prince, that he not only took him by the hand but kissed it- a most unusual gesture for a Mughal emperor.

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History of Jodhpur

• ¤ Jodhpur Ruled by Rathores

The kingdom of Jodhpur was ruled by the Rathores, who controlled much of Marwar in western Rajasthan including Bikaner, the other desert fiefdom. The clan traces its lineage back to Rama, the mythical hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana and through him back to the sun god Surya himself. Which is why the Rathores also call themselves Suryavanshi or family of the sun. In modern times, the first Rathore ruler chronicled by history was Nayan Pal, who established his kingdom at Kannauj near modern day Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh in 470 A.D. Here the dynasty flourished until much of north India began to acquire a distinctly Islamic flavour towards the close of the 12th century. Mohammad Ghori the Afghan annexed Kannauj in 1192, forcing the Rathore ruler Raja Jai Chand to flee which he did carrying the Rathore panchranga or the five-coloured flag with him. But dispirited by the defeat he drowned while crossing the Ganges.

• ¤ In The Early Days

After period of wandering through Gujarat, described by James Tod in his magnum opus Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, the Rathores settled down in Pali, which is a short distance from Jodhpur। Here Rao Siyaji, Jai Chand’s successor hit upon the strategy of conquest of Marwar through forging matrimonial alliances; he married and had three sons and eight grandsons each of whom bred prolifically in turn. and in 1453 the Rathores had multiplied enough in the region for one of Siyaji’s descendants Chonda to cobble up a large enough army to capture Mandore, the capital of Marwar. Here he married the princess of the ruling dynasty, had no less than 14 children and established the Rathore stronghold in Marwar. However, the Rajput reputation for constantly feuding with each other was well deserved; in this case it was the marital alliance between Chonda’s daughter Hansa to Lakha Rana of Mewar which stirred up trouble between the two principalities. Ultimately leading to the death of Chonda which is described by one Rathore chronicler as ‘he was slain at Nagore with one thousand Rajputs.’

• ¤ The City Founded

Eventually Rao Jodha (whose son Rao Bika later founded Bikaner) decided to shift base to a safer spot and moved from Mandore to Jodhpur which he founded in 1459। Again, as in the case of the founding of Jaisalmer, it was a sage who suggested that Jodha establish his settlement on a craggy hill known as the birds nest, which is now called Jodhpur. Atop this eyrie, Jodha built his stronghold called the Chintamani fort, which was later called Mehrangarh. Jodha lived in his new capital for thirty years and on his death bed he must have been a contented man, because he and his progeny by that time controlled eighty thousand square miles of territory. A far cry from three centuries earlier when his ancestors had been driven out of Kannauj by Ghori in absolute penury. Surajmal who succeeded Jodha, ruled Jodhpur for a score and seven years, and it was in his tenure that Jodhpur had its first spat with the imperial army at Delhi.

• ¤ A Question of Honour

During the reign of Sikandar Lodi in 1516, a band of Pathans carried off a hundred and forty Rajput women during the Hindu festival of Teej। Incensed Surajmal took it upon himself to avenge Rajput honour, which he did by vanquishing the ‘northern barbarians’ but at the cost of his own life. His heir Rao Ganga Singh who ruled for the next sixteen years was part of the last confederacy made by the Rajputs for national independence. As the Mughal Babur blazed across the Indus and defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the first battle of Panipat in 1526, the Rajputs united in order to drive out the foreigner. Ganga Singh along with the one-eyed Rana Sanga of Mewar met Babur in the battle of Khanua in 1528. However the Rajputs were routed and from then on Mughal power in India for the next two centuries was assured.

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