¤ 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.

कोन्तिनुए२........