Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Marwar

Maharaja Jaswant Singh (26 December 1629 - 28 December 1678) was a ruler of Marwar in the present-day Indian state of Rajasthan. He was a Rajput belonging to the Rathore clan. His father was Maharaja Gaj Singh I. He was a distinguished man of letters and author of "Siddhant-bodh", "Anand Vilas" and "Bhasa-bhusan"

History

Jaswant Singh succeeded his father on his death by special decree of the Emperor Shah Jahan, in accordance with his father's wishes, on 6 May 1638. He was invested by Imperial authority and granted the parganas of Jodhpur, Sivano, Merto, Sojhat, Phalodhi and Pokaran (Satalmer) in jagir.

He was installed on the gaddi at Sringar Chowki, Mehrangarh, Jodhpur, on 25 May 1638. He was granted the personal title of Maharaja by the Emperor Shah Jahan, on 6 January 1654.

In the Battle of Dharmatpur, Jaswant Singh opposed Aurangzeb. The battle was fought on 15 April 1658, fifteen miles from Ujjain. Jaswant could have attacked Aurangzeb but he allowed Murad's armies to join Aurangzeb. He was desirous of beating both mughal princes at once. This delay allowed Aurangzeb to win over the mughal general, Kasim Khan, who was sent by Shah Jahan to help Jaswant. Kasim Khan defected as soon as the war started but 30,000 Rathores of Jaswant decided that they would not leave the field. Some prominent generals in Maharaja's army were Mukund Singh Hara of Kotah and Bundi, Dayal Das Jhala, Arjun Gaur of Rajgarh in Ajmer province and Ratan Singh Rathore of Ratlam. Jaswant attacked both Aurangzeb and Murad and they barely escaped.

"Ten thousand Muslims fell in the onset, which cost seventeen hundred Rathor, besides Guhilotes, Haras, Gaurs, and some of every clan of Rajwarra (They are all names of rajput clans). Aurangzeb and Murad (Moghul Kings) only escaped because their days were not yet numbered. Notwithstanding the immense superiority of the imperial princes, aided by numerous artillery pieces served by Frenchmen, night alone put a stop to the contest of science, numbers, and artillery, against Rajput courage."

Finally the unequal contest ended and Aurangzeb named the place of victory Fatehabad. In this battle Durga Das Rathore changed four horses and lost about half a dozen swords (they broke due to intense fighting) and he finally fell down half dead. Maharaja ordered him to be carried away. After his wounds healed he promptly rejoined Maharaja's army.

He was appointed to Subadar of Malwa (1658-1659), and of Gujarat (March 1659 - 1662 and 1671 - 28 July 1672), and Thanadar of Peshawar (1671-1678).

Treatment of Prithviraji Singh by Aurangzeb

Prithviraji Singh was Jaswant Singh's son. It is chronicled in Marwar khyats that Aurangzeb presented Prithviraj Singh a dress which was poisoned. On wearing this dress Prithviraji died in great pain at Delhi, 8 May 1667. Prithviraj was a good leader and a brave prince. Jaswant could not get over the shock of his son's death. He was very saddened because he had no male heir who could seek revenge.

Jaswant died at Jamrud, near Peshawar, on 28 December 1678. At the time of his death two of his wives were pregnant, and both would later bear sons. This led to a war in which there were attempts to instal Jaswant Singh's elder surviving son Ajit Singh Rathor as ruler of Marwar.