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the north –
west, ascended the gaddi of Amber on 23 January 1700 A.D. at
the time of his enthronement, he was awarded a mansab of
1500/1200. Jai Singh witnessed advent or exit of Seven Mughal
Emperors, including Aurangzeb. After his accession, he was
appointed in the Deccan against the Marathas. He waited upon
the Emperor then in the South, in October 1701, and was posted
under Prince Bidar Bakht, son of Prince Azam Shah who was
supposed to be a strong contestant for the throne, whenever
the long and ruinous reign of Emperor Aurangzeb would end.
After Shivaji’s escape from Agra in 1666 A.D., Aurangzeb’s
attitude towards the rulers of Amber had never been favourable.
However, on account of Jai Singh’s excellent services in the
capture of Konkana fort of the Marathas, an increase of 500
was made in his mansab. During 1703 –06, the remained with
Bidar Bakht in Khandesh and Malwa. In 1705, Bidar Bakht
secured appointment of Jai Singh as his naib or deputy in
Malwa of which he was the Governor. In 1706, Bidar Bakht was
appointed as subahadar as of Gujarat and the governorship of
Malwa was conferred upon Amanulla Khan. It seems from the
subsequent events the Jai Singh continued to remain in Mal and
joined Bidar Bakht, then proceeding towards Gwalior via Ujjain
to participate in the war of succession following Aurangzeb’s
death on February 10, 1707. As Jai Singh had been close to
Bidar Bakht, he took part in the battle of Jajau (8th June
1707), fought near Agra on the side of Bidar Bakhat and his
father Azam against Shah Alam (later Emperor Bahadur Shah) who
had come to known of his father’s death near Peshawar.
Jai Singh and Emperor Bahadur Shah;
defies the Mughal authority
Shah Alam or Bhahdur Shah, after his victory, declared that
all those nobles who had taken Azam’s side in the war of
succession would be pardoned and accordingly Zulfiqar Khan was
again appointed as Mir Bakshi and his father Asad Khan, though
not made Wazir again, was appointed Wakil – I – Mutlaq, a
higher though less influential post. Thus the Irani group was
placated, and in the same manner the Turani nables were
appointed on high posts. Ghazi – ud din Khan, who was the most
prominent noble in the Turani group (which had mostly remained
neutral in the war of succession) was given the subah of
Gujarat. But in case of Amber and Kota, a different policy was
adopted, probably on the advice of Munim Khan, the new Wazir,
who had no experience of large policy matters. As Jai Singh
wrote to Maharana Amar Singh II of Mewar, Amber was being
taken into Khalisa for his taking Azam’s side. His protest
that Amber had remained the Watan of the Kachhawa has for
centuries and never before such an order had been passed, was
ignored by the Mughal government on the ground that there was
a dispute for Amber between Jai Singh and his brother Bijai
Singh (who had fought on the side of Bahadur Shah in the
recent war of succession), and hence the Kachhawaha capital
was being resumed. This was not correct as Jai Singh had been
ruling at Amber since 1700 A.D. and Bijai Singh had till now
never contested his brother as right. To the Rajputs it must
have appeared that the Mughal government was trying to extend
its Marwar policy adopted by it after 1679 i.e. following
Maharaja Jaswant Singh’s death, in case of Amber also. The
developments in Rajputana and the contemporary letters
preserved in the Rajasthan State Archives, Bikaner, reveal the
real motives of Bahadur Shah and his chief adviser, the wazir
Munim Khan. Bhimsen, a contemporary historian, writes that the
object of taking the Rajput states into Kalisa was to acquire
more land to ease to some extent the problem of scarcity of
land required for granting tankhwah jagirs or what has been
termed as the jagirdari crisis. The fact that Bahadur Shah
refused to restore Jodhpur to Ajit Singh, posthumous son of
Maharaja Jaswant Singh, in 1708 i.e. even after about 34 years
of that ruler’s death shows that the Mughal government wanted
to do away with its commitment not to touch the Watan (jagirs)
of the Rajput rulers, so as to bring them in line with the
other nobles who could not advance any hereditary claim. The
uncompromising stand of Aurangzeb had led to Mughal - Marwar
war in 1679, which was still continuing and his son and
successor Bahadur Shah, though much more moderate and
practical than his father, now caused it to spread over a
major part of Rajputana during 1708 – 10. The Rajputs, with
the decisive support of Mewar and moral support to Chhatrasal
Bundela and even Shuhu to whom Jai Singh had written letters
seeking their co – operation and charging the Mughal
government of being anti – Hindu and for reversing the wise
policy of Emperor Akbar, expelled the Mughal garrisons from
Amber and Jodhpur and put to rout the Mughal garrison from
Amber and Jodhpur and put to rout the Mughal troops every
where, till Emperor Bahadur Shah, after having successfully
dealt with his brother Kambaksh, felt obliged to accept the
Rajput demands unconditionally, when returning from the Deccan
on way to Punjab to deal with the Sikh resistance under Banda
Bahadur. This happened on 11th June 1710, when Jai Singh and
Ajit Singh waited upon the Emperor during the march (and not
in his camp) near Ajmer. Though repeatedly summoned to join
duty in the war against the Sikhs, they did not go to Sadhora,
After Bahadur Shah’s death at Lahore in February 1712, Jai
Singh and Ajit Singh came on the central stage of politics of
the Mughal Empire. By not applying his policy of what Prof.
Satish Chandra calls a pardon and conciliation towards the
Rajpts from the very beginning of his reign, Bahadur Shah
further damaged the delicately balanced relationship between
the Rajput rulers and Mughal government which had already
suffered grievous blows at the hands of Aurangzeb, Henceforth
reciprocity and the blind loyalty was to be the basis of
relationship between the Rajput rulers and the Mughal
government.
It is from the time of Jahandar Shah who succeeded Bahadur
Shah in March 1712 that Jai Singh and other Rajput rulers
began to be wooed by the Mughal Emperors by being offered high
mansabs and governorships. Another war of succession following
the one at Lahore was in the offing. Jai Singh and Ajit Singh
were given mansabs of 7000/7000, and, as Farrukhsiyar, nephew
of the Emperor, advanced from Patna, governorship of Malwas
and Gujarat were conferred upon the two rulers. When
Farrukhsiyar became Emperor in January 1713, he reconfirmed
the grant of governorship of Malwa to Jai Singh, who also
officially received the title of Sawai for the first time.
Jai Singh & Relations with the Marathas
We may now take up in greater detail Jai Singh’s relations
with the Marathas. As noted that Jai Singh, soon after his
enthronement, had been posted in the Deccan where he
distinguished himself in the capture of Khelna fort of the
Marathas, for which service Aurangzeb had increased his mansab
by 500. Till Aurangzeb’s death in 1707, Jai Singh, now 18
years old, remained active in the operations against the
Marathas and in keeping Malwa safe from their incursions, as
Prince Bidar Bakhfs deputy. But when Jai Singh was waging a
war against the Mughal Government during 1708 –10 A.D., in co
– operation with Mewar and Ajit Singh, he had written to Shahu
to support Kam Baksh against emperor Bahadur Shah and to
entangle him in the Deccan, a task which, he wrote, even
Maratha sardars had successfully done in case of Aurangzeb.
Again in 1711 A.D., it was feared that Bahadur Shah, now free
from the Sikh campaign, might visit Rajputana again. Jai
Singh, as a contemporary letter shows, wrote to Durgadas
Rathore to call the Marathas in the north so that Emperor’s
designs against the Rajputas might get frustrated. The letters
to Shahu and others show that Jai Singh and other Rajput
rulers were appreciative of the Maratha resistance against the
Mughals and were prepared to seek their help whenever they
themselves were facing threat from the Mughal government.
However, the Rajputs knew it well that Maratha presence in
Malwa and Gujarat would, in the long run, endanger their own
safety, and obstruct their desire to extend their influence in
Malwa and Gujarat, if the crumbling Mughal Empire gave them an
opportunity to do so. As the subsequent developments show, Jai
Singh along with Mewar and Jodhpur rulers always remained
averse to the prospects of Malwa and Gujarat, if the crumbling
Mughal empire gave them an opportunity to do so. As the
subsequent developments show, Jai Singh along with Mewar and
Jodhpur rulers always remained averse to the prospects of
Malwa and Gujarat coming under the domination of the Marathas
and the time was to prove them right. Jai Singh therefore, was
opposed to the Maratha demand to levy chauth from Malwa and
Gujarat.
Though incursions in Malwa had begun even during Aurangzeb’s
period, after 1711 A.D. these became more serious in intensity
and more frequent in occurrence. During his first governorship
of Malwa (1715 - 17), Jai Singh vigorously campaigned against
the Marathas and inflicted a crushing defeat upon them at
Pulsed. He was, however, recalled (October 1716) to lead
campaign against Churaman Jat and the charge of Malwa was
given to Muhammad Amin Khan. The Marathas had already secured
from Zulfiqar Khan, who was given the charge of Deccan suba by
Bahadur Shah in 1708, the right to collect chauth and
sardeshmukhi in the Deccan. They obtained its official
ratification when Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath accompanied Hussain
Ali to Delhi in late 1718, shortly before the deposition of
Farrukhsiyar. When Baji rao succeeded his father to Peswaship
in 1720 at the age of 19, he advocated a vigorous policy of
Maratha expansion in the North. In 1724, the Marathas create
trouble on the borders of Kota Bundi and the following year
they carried out depredation in Mewar on a large scale.
Maharana Sangram Singh II of Mewar even wrote to Jai Singh
that if measures were not taken to restrain the Marathas,
chaos and disorder would soon spread throughout northern
India. Sawai Jai Singh and Maharana took several steps to
contain the growing Maratha threat. As we learn from a letter
of Nizam to Jai Singh, they even approved the idea to support
Shambhaji of Kolhapur against Chhatrapati Shahu and to win
over some of Shahu’s nobles in favour of Kolhapur. Jai Singh,
however, never put much faith in Nizam. On his own, he wrote
to each and every ruler of Rajputana to set out with their
armies the moment they learnt or the arrival of the Marathas
in Mewar, Rampura etc. Jai Sinhg’s letters and in some cases
their draft (Draft Kharitas) are preserved in the Rajasthan
State Archives and also letters which show that his move was
welcomed by the Rajput states.
Jai –Singh Peace Negotiations
At the same time, Jai Singh was too far – sighted a statesman
to miss the hard realities of the situation. He knew that
Auranghzeb had totally failed to crush the Marathas or dampen
their spirit, despite campaigning against them for nearly half
a century, and throwing in all he could for this purpose
during the last 25 years of his reign. The spectacular Maratha
victories in Malwa at Palkhed (Feb.1728) and Amjhera in
November 1728 further showed that any military solution to the
Maratha problem would be futile attempt. But even before these
two resounding victories over the Nizam and the Raja Girdhar
Bahadur, the Governor of Malwa, Jai Singh had sent Joshi
Shambhu Ram to Satara promising to secure for Chhatrapati
Shohu jagirs of 10 lacs of rupees each in subahs Malwa and
Gujarat. The Maratha demand of chauth from these provinces
came to nearly 50 lacs of rupees. Jai Singh also conveyed the
assurance that he would obtain suitable mansabs for some of
the Maratha sardars who should then serve the Mughal
government on such conditions as would be worked out. Jai
Singh kept the Emperor informed of his offer. In return for
these concessions, Shahu was to ensure that no disturbances
were created by the Marathas in these subahs . But in that
very year, Sarbuland Khan, the governor of Gujarat, unable to
resist the Maratha pressure, conceded the Maratha demand of
chauth from Gujarat and soon the province passed into their
hands.
Jai Singh’s Second Governorship of Malwa
Jai Singh was appointed to Malwa after the defeat and death of
Raja Girdhar Bahadur in the battle of Amjhera in November 1728
at the hands of Peshwa’s brother, Chimnaji Appa. Girdhar
Bahadur, like other members of a powerful group of nobles
which included Wazir Qamruddin Khan, Saadat Khan and Muhammad
Khan Bangash, was totally against any peace or compromise with
the Marathas. A brave and upright soldier, Girdhar Bahadur’s
defeat and death shortly after Nizamas humiliating defeat at
Palkhed, strengthen the hands of Jai Singh and Mir Bakshi
Khan-I-Dauran who favored some kind of settlement with the
Marathas within the framework of the Mughal empire. This was
the time when the Nizam in the Deccan, Alivardi Khan in Bihar
and Bengal and Bangash in subah Allahabad were trying to carve
out their independent principalities. It was apparent that the
Mughal eippire was crumbling. Jai Singh hoped that by granting
appropriate mansabs and jagirs to the Marathas, he would be
able to win them over. In February 1730, Chhatrapati Shahu
accepted Jai Singh’s offer to secure a jagir worth ten lacs of
rupees in Malwa for his adopted son Kushal Singh. The Marathas
restored Mandu to Jai Singh, which they had recently captured.
After his agreement Jai Singh remained in Malwa for some time
and then returned to Amber. |
