Ajit Singh of Marwar
| Ajit Singh | |
|---|---|
Ajit Singh
|
|
| Tenure | 19 February 1679 – 24 June 1724 |
| Born |
c. 1679 Lahore |
| Died | 24 June 1724 Meherangarh, Jodhpur |
| Issue |
Abhai Singh Bakht Singh |
| Father | Jaswant Singh |
| Mother | Jadaman |
| Religion | Hinduism |
Ajit Singh (c. 1679 – 24 June 1724) was a ruler of the Marwar region in the present-day Rajasthan and the son of Jaswant Singh.
Jaswant Singh of Marwar died at Jamrud in December 1678. His two wives were pregnant but, There being no living male heir, the lands in Marwar were converted by the emperor Aurangzeb into territories of the Mughal empire so that they could be managed as jagirs. He appointed Indra Singh Rathor, a nephew of Jaswant Singh, as ruler there. Historian John F. Richards stresses that this was intended as a bureaucratic exercise rather than an annexation.
There was opposition to Aurangzeb's actions because both pregnant women gave birth to sons during the time that he was enacting his decision. In June 1679, Durgadas Rathor, a senior officer of the former ruler, led a delegation to Shahjahanabad where they pleaded with Aurangzeb to recognise the older of these two sons, Ajit Singh, as successor to Jaswant Singh and ruler of Marwar. Aurangzeb refused, offering instead to raise Ajit and to give him the title of raja, with an appropriate noble rank, when he attained adulthood. However, the offer was conditional on Ajit being brought up as a Muslim, which was anathema to the petitioners.
The dispute escalated when Ajit Singh's younger brother died. Aurangzeb sent a force to capture the two queens and Ajit from the Rathor mansion in Shahjahanabad but his attempt was rebuffed by Durgadas Rathor, who initially used gunfire in retaliation and eventually escaped from the city to Jodhpur along with Ajit and the two queens, who were disguised as men. Some of those accompanying the escapees detached themselves from the party and were killed as they fought to slow down the pursuing Mughals.
The Dhaa Maa (wet nurse) of Infant prince Ajit Singh of Marwar, Goora Dhaa (The Sainik Kshatriyas Gehlot Rajput of Mandore) put her beloved son on the royal bed Instead of Ajit Singh and put the sleeping prince Ajit into a basket and smuggle him with others out of Delhi. Aurangzeb deigned to accept this deceit and sent the child to be raised as a Muslim in his harem. The child was renamed Mohammadi Raj and the act of changing religion meant that, by custom, the imposter lost all hereditary entitlement to the lands of Marwar that he would otherwise have had if he had indeed been Ajit Singh.
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